Last week, nearly every DI men’s college wrestling team in the country , giving fans a sense of what this upcoming year will look like in terms of competitions, rivalry duals and winter tournaments. But let’s skip ahead a year now.
Starting in fall 2024, the collegiate sporting landscape will see a number of big conference realignment changes that will have an impact on competition. Within wrestling, the two biggest moves include Arizona State's jump to the Big 12 and Stanford's shift to the ACC.
Big 12 Conference Adds Arizona, Arizona State and Utah
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference)
Oklahoma is also set to move to the SEC, though the Sooners will likely stay put in the Big 12 for wrestling, making them potentially the ninth Big 12 program, alongside California Baptist, Missouri, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, Utah Valley, South Dakota State and Wyoming, to compete in a different conference for wrestling compared to the schools' other sports.
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Like the Big 12, the Pac-12 also has a number of wrestling teams that compete in this conference while their sporting counterparts compete in smaller, regional conferences. Those wrestling teams — Cal Poly, CSU Bakersfield and Little Rock — are expected to stay put in the Pac-12 for wrestling following realignment.
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐏𝐚𝐜-��𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: Jon Sioredas, 🐎 |
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12)
Oregon State, the only remaining Pac-12 wrestling team with an FBS football program, will continue to compete in this conference for wrestling alongside its other varsity sports programs. The Beavers are on the rise, and they’ll be pushed by the young and scrappy Mustangs of Cal Poly. So, while the departure of the Sun Devils and Stanford will be a loss for the Pac-12, don’t sleep on this conference post-realignment.
Here are some potential matches that we could see across these new conferences in 2024:
North Carolina vs. Stanford
The first, obvious and potential exciting matchup after conference realignment takes effect in 2024 is a possible North Carolina vs. Stanford meeting in the ACC dual season. This matchup that will feature former Stanford head coach and current UNC head coach Rob Koll against new Stanford head coach Chris Ayres. Koll left Stanford earlier this fall following former North Carolina head coach Coleman Scott’s departure to Oklahoma State, and Koll now leads his alma mater into this new era of expanded ACC competition. Ayres took on Koll’s old job at Stanford after 17 years at Princeton, but conference realignment may have him and his team competing on the East Coast more than in the past.
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North Carolina and Stanford are both teams that compete for top 25 rankings, and these two schools also finished 12th and 26th respectively at the 2023 NCAA tournament. While neither team is likely in trophy contention this year, both programs return at least one All-American who will still be eligible for competition in 2024-2025.
Leading the way for the Cardinal is 149-pounder Jaden Abas who finished seventh at 149 pounds in 2021. Abas has eligibility remaining for this year and next year, and while North Carolina doesn't have anyone ranked at Abas' weight right now, returning All-American Lachlan McNeil comes into the year ranked No. 4 at 141 pounds. Weights shift, recruits come in and lineups change, so while it's difficult to predict exactly which ranked matchups might happen if these two programs wrestle in an ACC dual next season, the fact that Stanford could have North Carolina on the schedule next winter is an intriguing reality in itself.
Ready to roll 🤝 |
— UNC Wrestling (@UNCWrestling)
Wrestling is unique in that so many of these non-conference teams compete against one another in events like the Collegiate Duals or in individual bouts at the Cliff Keen Invitational, Midlands or the Southern Scuffle. But conference pride does matter. Just ask Michigan in 2022. Winning a conference tournament still carries some weight. Having Stanford and North Carolina compete against one another for ACC honors may not have been on anyone's bingo card, but the personalities and talent on these two teams could make this contest particularly fun.
Arizona State vs. Missouri
While North Carolina vs. Stanford is an exciting possible bout because of the history of the head coaches at these programs and the fact that they are both hovering near the top 25 in dual rankings, the new conference dual that could be the most competitive and the most elite would be Arizona State vs. Missouri. The Sun Devils finished last year seventh at the NCAA tournament, but they are consistently a trophy-caliber team known for their depth, speed and talent. Missouri, similarly, boasts a stacked lineup, and the Tigers took fifth in last year's tournament, one spot short of a trophy.
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These two teams have actually competed against each other four of the last five seasons, splitting the results. Arizona State earned the last win by a close margin when they topped the Tigers 19-17. If the new conference realignment means we get to see this dual every year, sign me up.
Missouri's entry into the Big 12 was, in itself, dramatic, as the Tigers rejoined the conference in 2021 after spending nine years in the MAC conference. Now they'll be joined by Arizona State in one of the most historically successful conferences in the sport. The Sun Devils have won the Pac-12 conference tournament in five of the last seven years and will be now looking to take down the Tigers, two-time Big 12 champs.
Sun Devil nation came through tonight 🔱
— Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling)
Individually, an Arizona State vs. Missouri 2024-2025 dual meet could feature multiple ranked matches, with a potential rematch at 125 pounds between Richie Figueroa of Arizona State vs. Noah Surtin of Missouri at 125 pounds. This, though, is assuming Surtin takes his COVID year and Figueroa continues to wrestle at the level he competed at last year when he won the Cliff Keen Tournament for the Sun Devils, despite wrestling as a backup behind NCAA finalist Brandon Courtney. Figueroa beat Surtin 6-4 last year in the dual, and both athletes will be looking for their first All-American honor this year.
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona State
Let’s stay with the Sun Devils for this third dual as well. When Arizona State joins the Big 12, the Sun Devils will immediately be conference title contenders. But being a title contender and being a title winner are two different things, and for Arizona State to accomplish the latter, they'll not only need to outwrestle Missouri but Oklahoma State as well. The Cowboys of Oklahoma State have struggled as of late, finishing 17th in last year's NCAA tournament, but this is still a storied program that knows how to win. Oklahoma State holds 34 NCAA titles to its name and under the leadership of John Smith and new associate head coach Coleman Scott, the Cowboys cannot be dismissed, despite their down year last season.
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Head coach John Smith will lose a number of seniors ahead of the 2024-2025 season including his most reliable point-scorer, three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix. New Rutgers transfer Sammy Alvarez will also be gone before Arizona State joins the conference, as will Jalin Harper at 157 pounds and NIU transfer All-American Izzak Olejnik, leaving just a few national qualifiers who could yield some ranked matchups in this potential bout. Once again, 125 pounds could be a weight to watch, with Figueroa possibly taking on Oklahoma high school state champ Troy Spratley as a conference foe.
These two programs, overall, have not competed against one another since 2014 when Oklahoma State beat Arizona State 29-10. In fact, the Cowboys are an undefeated 7-0 against Arizona State having wrestled them in the aforementioned 2014 dual as well as contests in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2006 and 2003. Arizona State is not coming into the Big 12 looking to be second to anyone though. Much like fellow Olympian John Smith, Arizona State head coach Zeke Jones has a strong history of putting together winning lineups, and the possibility of these two coaches, and their respective teams, dualing every year and competing for conference titles with one another is exciting for the sport and for the Big 12 conference as a whole.
BONUS DUAL: Oklahoma State vs. Oklahoma
Putting Bedlam on this list is cheating, especially given the fact that Oklahoma is likely not changing wrestling conferences. But amidst all of the conference realignment changes and reactions, it’s important to remember that some things in wrestling remain sacred, and one of those sacred things is Bedlam.
Oklahoma’s move to the SEC will not impact wrestling directly, and the Sooners, much like the Missouri Tigers, could hold on to their Big 12 status and continue to compete against some of the same rivals they've wrestled for the last century. Yet, this dual against Oklahoma State in particular will continue to be appointment viewing.
Sounds like Bedlam wrestling will continue
— Seth Duckworth (@Seth_Duckworth)
The Oklahoma-Oklahoma State rivalry dates back to 1920 when Oklahoma State shut out Oklahoma 50-0, but the matchup earned its nickname, 'Bedlam' because of a newspaper column written after one particularly rowdy dual in which the writer described the environment in one simple sentence: "It's bedlam in here!" The term stuck.
BEDLAM: History and scores from this iconic rivalry
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State typically meet twice a year, once in Stillwater and once in Norman, in advance of the conference tournament. The series has been dominated by Oklahoma State, and, in fact, Oklahoma's best efforts to take down the Cowboys actually came in a tournament setting, when they tied Oklahoma State for the conference crown in 2021. Within the dual history, though, it's been all Oklahoma State, at least under head coach John Smith's tenure. The legendary Cowboy coach has just one loss to Oklahoma since he took over the program in 1992. Last year, his team beat Oklahoma 21-15 and 26-6. This year, these two teams will wrestle on December 10 and February 18 and a similar schedule will be expected in 2024-2025.
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