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NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2023-24

NCAA D1 Week 13 Roundup: The Heat Is On

NCAA D1 Week 13 Roundup: The Heat Is On

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 13th week of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Jan 29, 2024 by Andrew Spey
NCAA D1 Week 13 Roundup: The Heat Is On

It's the dead of winter, but the dual meet season is heating up! Week 13 of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season ushered forth a new batch of stellar dual meets replete with noteworthy happenings, which we will recount below in our award-winning roundup!

Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week's Roundup

Hopefully, the NFL playoffs didn't distract you too much from the incredible college wrestling season that is taking place. 

I'm not saying you can't watch any NFL games, that would be practically impossible given their ubiquity in American culture, I'm just saying make sure you leave some room for the world's oldest and greatest sport as well. 

But if all you do to remain a wise and learned wrestling fan is read this blog, well, that's okay too. 

The Dual of the Century, of the Week

Freshmen phenom Feldman forecloses on the Wolverines

This is the heat of which I speak. Two evenly matched teams. Unexpected heroics. A volcanic rivalry that burns with the intensity of a thousand suns. 

Let's check out the box score shall we? 

125: #17 Michael DeAugustino (MICH) over #21 Brendan McCrone (OHST) (TF 16-1 6:05)

133: #4 Dylan Ragusin (MICH) over #10 Nic Bouzakis (OHST) (MD 15-6) 

141: #3 Jesse Mendez (OHST) over (MICH) (For.) 

149: #6 Austin Gomez (MICH) over #7 Dylan D'Emilio (OHST) (MD 17-6) 

157: #13 Will Lewan (MICH) over #23 Isaac Wilcox (OHST) (TB-1 5-2) 

165: #12 Bryce Hepner (OHST) over Beau Mantanona (MICH) (Dec 12-10) 

174: #3 Shane Griffith (MICH) over #14 Rocco Welsh (OHST) (Dec 2-1) 

184: Ryder Rogotzke (OHST) over #14 Jaden Bullock (MICH) (TF 21-0 5:00) 

197: #23 Luke Geog (OHST) over Rylan Rogers (MICH) (Dec 9-4) 

285: #16 Nick Feldman (OHST) over #4 Lucas Davison (MICH) (Dec 4-3)

Michigan was without the services of 141-pounder Sergio Lemley, who was flagged at skin check and ruled ineligible to compete. That forced the Wolverines to forfeit as they did not have a backup 133 or 141-pounder with them. It’s worth noting that the NCAA limits the number of wrestlers that can travel to away trips to 13. 

Michigan got bonus points from the first four Wolverines that did take the mat including a key overtime victory at 157. Things looked bleak for the Buckeyes in their home gym after Will Lewan outlasted Isaac Wilcox before intermission

But the sold-out crowd in the Covelli Center had much to cheer for in the second half of the dual. 

Bryce Hepner got things rolling for the Buckeyes by winning a shootout with Michigan's talented true freshman Beau Mantanona. Mantanona performed admirably while spelling teammate and All-American Cam Amine at 165, and will likely still keep his redshirt for the remainder of the season. 

Another true freshman, this time for the Buckeyes, also performed admirably in a loss. Rocco Welsh, who will be getting the postseason nod after his All-American teammate Carson Khachla suffered a season-ending injury, lost via third-period ride out to 2021 NCAA champ Shane Griffith. 

Three Ohio State wins closed out the dual, including an unexpected tech-fall from yet another true freshman, Ryder Rogotzke over 14th ranked Jaden Bullock. Rogotzke will also be able to keep his redshirt eligibility this season, with either Seth Shumate or Gavin Hoffman taking his place in the postseason lineup. 

Finally, there was the massive upset by redshirt freshman Nick Feldman to clinch the dual and send the Buckeye faithful into a frenzy. 

Had Lemley been able to wrestle, he would have faced #3 Jesse Mendez, and Ohio State still would have been significant favorites in that match, however, in hindsight, all Lemley would have had to do was last the full seven minutes and Michigan would have won the dual. Alas, that will be one of the big ‘what ifs’ of the season for the Wolverines.

And if my meager recap of the dual was inadequate, JD Rader wrote a whole live blog for you, which you can read here. 

There Were Other Rivalries Duals This Week

The Citadel defends their home gym against VMI

While not on the same scale as the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, the Citadel-VMI rivalry is as fierce as they come. This year's annual dual between the two premier southern military academics went the Bulldog's way as Citadel won 35-3

Oklahoma State tops Iowa State in ancient Big 8 rivalry

The Cowboys and the Cyclones have been duking it out for over a century. Their first dual was in 1921, won by Iowa State 37-3. The heydey of this rivalry was in the 60s and 70s, when the two teams combined for 12 NCAA titles over two decades, back when they were both in the Big 8, a conference that later merged with the Southwest Conference to form what is now the Big 12. 

Both programs are tending up, and this year's dual featured 17 ranked wrestlers. Oklahoma State prevailed 21-12 thanks to a major by #2 Plott over #9 Feldkamp at 184 and a major by true freshman Jersey Robb over #29 Broderson at 197.

The highlight for the Cyclones was #2 David Carr defeating #3 Izzak Olejnik 8-1 at 165.

You can read more about in our live blog by the celebrated Kyle Klingman. 

Oklahoma State also beat UNI 22-12 in what was a very successful weekend in Stillwater for the Cowboys against Iowan opponents. 

Penn State hammered Maryland in the Mason-Dixon Line Rivalry

I made that rivalry up although maybe Penn State and Maryland want to start using it? It's a free idea, there for the taking!

Anyway, this wasn't much of a rivalry as Penn State rocked the Terps to the tune of four pins, two tech-falls and two majors in a 42-6 victory. Aaron Nagao did not wrestle at 133 and neither did either Tyler Kasak or David Evans 141. Kasak and Evans were both at the Mat Town Open II, where Kasak beat Evans in the finals 4-2, however. I'm not sure Coach Sanderson has made a final decision at that weight yet.

Also, I live blogged the dual, which you can read here.

Bonus points propel Cleveland State over Ohio

Not as storied a rivalry as others, as Cleveland State only joined Ohio in the MAC a few years ago ,but still a nice intra-state dual that came down to the final bout. The Vikings won 197 and 285 to complete the come-from-behind victory, 24-19. 

Both schools still have Kent State on the schedule. If CSU can defeat the Golden Flashes they'll lay claim to being the best MAC team in Ohio. And if they want to make a trophy for that I would support it. Just another idea for the taking, gratis. 

You can watch the dual here. 

The ACC Dual Season is underway, where every contest is a rivalry

There are six ACC schools that sponsor wrestling (soon to be seven when Stanford joins next season), and there are no affiliates, so every dual between ACC schools has rivalry energy. 

In week one of ACC skirmishes, Virginia Tech beat UNC 33-3, Virgnia blanked Duke 45-0, and NC State dispatched Pittsburgh 31-6. 

It's looking more and more likely that the ACC regular season championship will be decided on February 23 in the Reynolds Coliseum where NC State will host Virginia Tech. 

Augsburg beat Wartburg in the Battle of the Burgs

It was a D3 dual and this is technically a D1 blog, however, this excellent rivalry was too electric to ignore. 

125 Pounds Remains Iredeamably Cursed

One of the biggest stories of the first week of the season was when NCAA finalist and then-top-ranked 125-pounder Matt Ramos lost to high schooler Marcus Blaze at the Clarion Open. This week, the curse of 125 returned when another high schooler, Jax Forrest, beat recently minted number one Luke Stanich at the Mat Town Open II in Lock Haven. 

Adding to the pandemonium were upsets by unranked Jeremiah Reno over #5 Brandon Kaylor, and #19 Stevo Poulin over #7 Jore Volk.

The only undefeated ranked 125-pounder left is Penn State's Braeden Davis. His best wins are DeAugustino and Kaylor. Is that enough to move him ahead of Ramos and Stanich? I have no clue, that is the unenviable job of JD Rader and Jon Kozak, our college rankers. 

All that can be known at the moment is that Kozak and JD are going to get yelled at no matter what they do. Such is the glamorous life of a college wrestling ranker!

Other Things Happened

Vito returns to Cornell's lineup

Cornell went 3-0 this weekend with their senior national champ back in the lineup at 133. Vito also went 3-0, though he did trail for much of his bout with Missouri's Kade Moore, which Arujau eventually won 10-9. 

Cornell impressed against an excellent Missouri squad (live blog here). #15 Meyer Shapiro beat three-time All-American Brock Mauller at 157, Chris Foca majored Clay Whiting at 184, and #9 Jacob Cardenas beat #6 Rocky Elam 4-0 to power the Big Red to victory. 

The Tigers did get a reassuring 13-5 win from Keegan O'Toole over #4 Julian Ramirez. 

Cornell also beat Harvard 37-6 and Brown 47 to -1. 

Guys, if I may, can we stop with the team point deductions already? Instead, hand out yellow and red cards when appropriate. Do not deduct team points. It's silly. 

Implausibly, Brown would have had more points in their dual with Cornell if they forfeited every weight instead of actually wrestling. I don't say this to pick on the Bears, I say this to draw attention to this nonsensical practice. Please, enough. 

Dayton Pitzer will miss the rest of the regular season

I hate reporting on injuries. It's the worst. Coach Gavin is hoping Pitzer can return for the ACC Championships, which would be great. Tough blow for the Panthers either way. 

Pitzer was hurt in Pittsburgh's dual with Arizona State last week. 

Little Rock, more like Big Rock

Little Rock has done so much winning this season that that joke is already getting stale. But doubt the Trojans at your own peril, as head coach Neil Erisman's squad notched another big-time win. 

Little Rock defeated Oregon State 20-17, thanks to key wins like the aforementioned upset by Reno over Kaylor at 125 and Josiah Hill's victory over #18 Boone McDermott at 285. 

Bellarmine stays winning

The Knights of Bellarmine, Kentucky won another dual this season, defeating SoCon rival Gardner-Webb 23-15. 

Bellarmine is now 12-0 on the season, though it should be noted that only four of those victories are over D1 schools. Still, that's a lot of wins for a program that's only been D1 for a few years. Kudos to head coach Ned Shuck and his crew! 

Iowa thumped Illinois and Northwestern

Both of Iowa's conference rivals from the Land of Lincoln were on the losing end of a lopsided team score. The Hawkeyes beat Illinois 36-6 and shutout Northwestern 46-0.

On the bright side for the Illini, true frosh Kannon Webster prevailed over #14 Caleb Rathjen in sudden victory. 

More Key Upsets from last week

  • #25 Cole Matthews beat #4 Ryan Jack 15-10. The Panther All-American is finding his groove at just the right time. 
  • Gopher senior #26 Garrett Joles beat Rutgers' #11 John Poznanksi. That win sealed the dual for Minnesota over the Scarlet Knights.  
  • #23 Tyler Wells of Minnesota also scored an upset over Rutgers when he beat #11 Dylan Shawver in what was a frustrating day for the Scarlet Knight faithful. 
  • Rutgers did get an upset of their own, however, when #20 Dean Peterson took out two-time All-American #14 Pat McKee at 125.
  • #14 Tom Crook of Virginia Tech beat North Carolina All-American #5 Lachlan McNeil in the Hokies drubbing of the Tar Heels. 
  • Iowa's #13 Patrick Kennedy beat #5 Edmond Ruth of Illinois. Kennedy's performance may have earned him the postseason spot which will allow Gabe Arnold to redshirt. 
  • South Dakota State's #13 Bennet Berge bolstered his bona fides with an 8-0 major over Air Force's #7 Sam Wolf.
  • Finally, in an all-Ivy League matchup, #12 Nick Incontrera of UPenn beat #7 Lenox Wolak of Columbia. 

Want to know which true freshmen can still redshirt and how many duals they can still wrestle and retain their redshirt?

Then you're gonna wanna check out our mid-season redshirt report!

Just be forewarned, it came out in the middle of last week and is already slightly out of date on account of all the matches that happened over the weekend. Still, better than nothing!

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!

Did you know FloWrestling is releasing a documentary about Vito Arujau this Wednesday? I hope so, but if not, I'm glad you're hearing about it now!

You can prepare for that momentous occasion by watching Vito's gold medal match at the 2023 Senior World Championships. 


Spoiler alert, Vito wins!

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].

Next week: more duals, and no pesky NFL games to distract you. It'll be glorious!