3 men’s college wrestling duals to watch this weekend, including No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 23 Army

Last weekend, just three ranked wrestling teams took the mat in dual action. But this weekend, that number more than quadruples.

No. 2 Nebraska leads the way, taking on No. 23 Army just one day after No. 3 Iowa's dual with Bellarmine. No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 7 NC State, No. 8 Lehigh and No. 10 Virginia Tech will also wrestle this weekend, taking on Chattanooga, No. 19 Stanford, Northern Colorado, Virginia and Duke and Bucknell, respectively. 

With so many elite teams and athletes in action at once, big matches could be easy to miss. 

Here are three duals you to pay special attention to over the next two days: 

No. 2 Nebraska vs. No. 23 Army: 7 p.m. ET Friday on BTN+

Two of the biggest duals of this weekend feature military academies, with Army kicking off the action Friday night in Lincoln against the NCAA runner-up Cornhuskers. The Black Knights will bring a dozen ranked wrestlers into enemy territory to take on a stacked Nebraska team led by two NCAA champions in Antrell Taylor at 157 pounds and AJ Ferrari at 197 pounds, and while Nebraska will be favored in eight of 10 weights, this dual is interesting for more than just the team score. 

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Friday night marks potentially the highly anticipated debut of Ferrari — a former Oklahoma State national champ turned Cal State Bakersfield All-American who came to Lincoln this summer as a junior transfer — as a Husker and at heavyweight, and he could take the mat against a ranked Black Knight in No. 13 Brady Colbert for a top-15 matchup. 

Colbert and Ferrari have never wrestled in college against one another, nor do they share any common opponents. Colbert, a sophomore, went 30-8 last season, with his best win coming against Round of 12 finisher Hunter Catka, while Ferrari finished his season in 2025 with a 21-1 record and victories against All-Americans Jacob Cardenas, Joey Novak, Mac Stout and Stephen Little. Ferrari does also have a career win over NCAA champions Nico Bonaccorsi and Stephen Buchanan. 

🚨🗣️ CALLING ALL NEBRASKA STUDENTS

Help take Husker match days to the next level by being a part of the first ever Nebraska Wrestling student section.

🎟️

— Nebraska Wrestling (@HuskerWrestling)

Ferrari is part of the Nebraska team this year that will look for another team trophy, and this match against the Black Knights will be an opportunity to see the lineup in dual action for the first time this year. 

Fifteen Huskers did already open their season in a tournament, though, with five of those 15 athletes — No. 2 Brock Hardy, No. 1 Taylor, No. 22 LJ Araujo, No. 4 Chris Minto and No. 6 Silas Allred — winning titles at the Navy Classic. Minto earned the highest-ranked win amongst his teammates when he beat Navy All-American No. 6 Danny Wask 11-3 at 174 pounds. Minto will likely face unranked Andrew Christie or Cooper Haase of Army and looks to maintain his perfect 100% bonus rate on the season. 

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Hardy and Araujo, meanwhile, could face ranked Army athletes in No. 25 Braden Basile at 141 pounds and No. 16 Gunner Filipowicz at 165 pounds, the last of which is the highest-profile match of the night.

Nebraska has never lost to Army in a dual, and the Huskers will be expected to continue this trend on Friday. The individual storylines in this ranked dual make it a fun way to kick off the weekend. 

No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 19 Stanford: 8 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN+

For the second week in row, Stanford will compete in one of the most interesting duals in the country, this time taking on No. 5 Oklahoma State after dropping 19-12 to Utah Valley on opening weekend. The Cardinal will be almost back to full strength this week, too, with No. 4 Daniel Cardenas and No. 4 Hunter Garvin returning to the lineup following their participation in the NWCA All-Star Classic last weekend. 

The wait is finally over.

Pack Gallagher. Tomorrow, 7 p.m. |

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling)

The Cowboys, however, have one of the most talented lineups in the country, led by NCAA finalist Troy Spratley at 125 pounds and NCAA champion Richard Figueroa at 133 pounds. For Stanford to compete with the Cowboys, the Cardinal will need to win every match they’re favored in, avoid bonus and flip two big bouts. There’s a path, but that path is uphill. 

Here’s how the lineups break down: 

The most interesting weight in this dual might have been the first one if Stanford’s No. 11 Nico Provo was set to compete against Spratley, but Stanford does not list him in the probable. Instead, the focus will shift up a weight to 133 pounds between Oklahoma State's No. 8 Richard Figueroa — coincidentally Provo's best career win — against No. 6 Tyler Knox. Figueroa wrestled down at 125 pounds for Arizona State the last two seasons before becoming a Cowboy and finding himself in the national spotlight in November for this top-10 battle. 

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Knox will have the advantage against Figueroa at 133 pounds by nature of his experience at the weight and his performance at last year’s NCAA tournament, but Figueroa has shown previously that he has the potential to be a national champion. His current training situation at Oklahoma State also gives him a fresh feel and could help him find, as it has for several other transfer Cowboys in the past, the way to the top of the podium again. 

Stanford is also favored at 157 and 165 pounds with No. 4 Cardenas and No. 4 Garvin. At 184 pounds, on the other hand, the Cardinal will need to watch out for bonus points as Oklahoma State’s latest star No. 4 Zack Ryder has shown that he came to Stillwater to score points and send a message. Ryder majored All-American Jaxon Smith of Maryland last weekend at the NWCA All-Star Classic and now looks like a title contender at this deep weight. He’s also one of three Cowboys ranked in the top-10 in the upperweights, three weights where Stanford does not have a ranked athlete. 

Cardinal 🆚 Cowboys 🔜 x

— Stanford Wrestling (@CardWrestling)

Stanford can't afford to lose bonus points without Provo in the lineup at 125 pounds and without No. 16 Lorenzo Norman in the lineup at 174.

Expect the Oklahoma State fanbase in Gallagher-Iba Arena to be out in full force for this top-20 team bout as the country gets its first look at the Cowboys against a tough Stanford squad who could make things interesting, particularly in the early weights.  

No. 14 Rutgers vs. Navy: 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FloWrestling

Navy is also back on the list this week despite losing its first dual of the season to Pitt 20-12. The Mids have another big weekend ahead of them too with a chance to rebound, taking on Appalachian State on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11:30 a.m. and then going to battle with No. 14 Rutgers at 3:30 p.m. Though favored in just three weights — 125, 174 and 285 pounds — against Rutgers, the 174 pound match alone makes this a can’t-miss dual. 

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Navy 174-pounder All-American Danny Wask comes into this match already tested against three top-20 athletes this season, earning wins against No. 14 Luca Augustine of Pitt 6-5 in the dual before beating No. 18 Jasiah Queen of Drexel and dropping to No. 4 Chris Minto in the Navy Classic. His Rutgers opponent, No. 7 Lenny Pinto, will be yet another challenge. Pinto, who finished just short of the podium last season in the Round of 12, is 1-0 against Wask, beating the Mid 10-5 one year ago in the Navy Classic. 

Pinto will be representing a new team this year after transferring from Nebraska. He comes into this dual as the highest-ranked member on his team, tied with No. 7 Dylan Shawver at 133 pounds who will likely face Navy’s unranked national qualifier Brendan Ferretti. 

Excited to face Navy Saturday in Bethlehem! |

— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling)

The other big ranked weight to watch comes at heavyweight, where No. 12 Spencer Lanosga of Navy could be set to take on Rutgers' No. 17 Hunter Catka, who also comes to the Jersey as a transfer after spending the first five years of his career at Virginia Tech. Lanosga and Catka have never wrestled in college, and both will come into this dual undefeated after Lanosga won the Navy Classic and beat Dayton Pitzer of Pittsburgh in the dual, while Catka started his Scarlet Knight career with wins over Rocky Files and Kyle Draina of Bloomsburg and Gardner-Webb, respectively. 

This dual will be part of the Journeymen WrangleMania event hosted in Bethlehem, Pa., so home crowd energy will not be a factor, but that doesn’t mean that the action will be any less exciting. Any ranked match up in November create intrigue and offer early indications of where some of the nation’s best wrestlers sit heading into even bigger non-conference battles later this month.