NCAA Week 6 Round-Up

Check out the biggest stories in the sixth week of the 2021-2022 Division 1 college wrestling season.

Dec 13, 2021 by Jon Kozak

A wild Bedlam dual, the return of Michigan’s line-up, young Hawkeyes in action, and more highlight the biggest stories this week in college wrestling. Take a look below at a quick recap of the past week in Division 1 action.

Carson Kharchla Continues To Impress

Last week at the CKLV, Carson Kharchla almost took out defending national champion Shane Griffith. This week, Kharchla took advantage of his match against last year’s NCAA runner-up Jake Wentzel. Kharchla struck early in the first period with a takedown and took a 2-1 lead into the second period. Wentzel earned an escape in the second and was able to fend off multiple, deep leg-attacks from Kharchla to keep the match tied at 2 going into the third. Rather than go down (where Wentzel is strongest), Kharcla chose neutral. Relying on his strength, Kharchla got to his swing single and earned his second takedown of the match to go up 4-2 on Wentzel. Kharchla was able to hold on to win 4-3 proving he is a serious contender this year at 165 pounds.

Hear from Kharchla following his win on Sunday afternoon:

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Massa And Parris Are BAAAACK

Last week, Coach Sean Bormet let out a not-so-subtle tweet regarding the return of Logan Massa to the Michigan lineup. This week at the Cleveland State Open, Massa returned to the mat and looked as dominant as he ever has. In his five matches on the way to a title, Massa recorded 2 tech falls, a pin, a major, and one regular decision. Although Massa didn’t face the toughest competition, his performance at Cleveland State is great news for Michigan’s attempt to challenge Iowa and Penn State for a team title.

On top of Massa’s return to action, Mason Parris also strapped up for the first time this season in a maize and blue singlet. Parris picked up right where he left off last season and blitzed his way to the top of the podium. Up until this point, there were questions on whether or not Parris was healthy. Parris answered those questions and should be considered the main contender to challenge Gable Steveson at heavyweight this season.

Those who stay…#Team100 #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/I136GNu2tr
— Sean Bormet (@Sean_Bormet) December 7, 2021

Bedlam Brawl

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State tied for the Big 12 title at last year’s conference championship tournament. However, at Sunday night’s dual Oklahoma State delivered a statement win by taking 9 of 10 matches in a dominant 31-3 win. The Cowboys were a step ahead of the Sooners all night gaining two bonus-point wins and taking almost all of the “toss-up” matches. Josh Heindselman was the only bright spot of the night for the Sooners but also was in the middle of a post-match scuffle during the team handshake.

As the teams were shaking hands at the end of the night, AJ Ferrari and Josh Heindselman exchanged some heated words followed by a not so friendly shove from Heindselman. Ferrari responded with a powerful double-leg but the two were separated before anything else note-worthy happened. The skirmish was over in a matter of seconds but certainly builds the drama for when the Sooners and Cowboys meet up again on February 20, 2022. Circle that date on your calendars now - it’ll be a fun one in Stillwater!

Young Hawkeyes Look Strong At UNI Open

Some of Iowa’s best freshmen took the mats at the UNI Open and had various levels of success against high-level opponents. Drake Ayala took out Caleb Fuessley (Iowa State) and Maximo Renteria (Illinois) before facing off against returning All-American Pat McKee in the first place bout. Ayala got off to a quick start against McKee but the more experienced Gopher overwhelmed Ayala just enough to come back to win 8-4. Even though Ayala fell short against McKee, he showed he’s ready to contend with some of the best 125-pound wrestlers in the country.

Also in redshirt for the Hawkeyes, Cullen Schriever and Patrick Kennedy took home titles from the UNI Open at 133 and 165 respectively. Schriever had two bonus-point wins and took out Northern Iowa’s Kyle Biscoglia in the finals, 7-4. Kennedy started his tournament off with a tech fall before earning regular decision wins over Iowa State’s Isaac Judge in the semis and Minnesota’s Cael Carlson in the finals. The performance of these three freshmen should give Iowa fans hope for the future after a host of their seniors will graduate this year. Take a look below at Schriever and Kennedy’s finals matches.

Schriever’s finals match against Biscoglia:

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Kennedy’s finals match against Carlson

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While these were the biggest stories, there was a ton of action in the past week of NCAA Wrestling. Take a look at the Week’s 6 box scores here for a complete list of all the results in Division 1 college wrestling.