With the Cliff Keen Invitational and Collegiate Duals in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take stock of where some of the nation’s top wrestlers and early stars stand. Who has had the best start to the season? Who is primed for a breakout moment come January? Which teams have impressed the most? These are all questions that will be answered in the first annual NCAA Wrestling Midseason Awards presentation below.
Keep in mind, these awards are based on performances from Nov. 1-Dec. 20, 2023. There’s a lot of wrestling still to come before the 10 individual champions are crowned in March. For now though, these are some of the midseason stars who deserve recognition.
Biggest upset of the year: Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) over Vito Arujau (Cornell) 8-4
Finalists: Julian Ramirez (Cornell) over David Carr (Iowa State) 4-3, Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) over Shane Griffith (Michigan) 4-2
Within the first week of the season, absolute chaos broke loose in college wrestling. Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham was the leader of this disruption.
The Mountain Hawk rookie started the season on a hot streak, sweeping his 133-pound bracket at the Princeton Open with 100% bonus, but he really made a name for himself the following weekend, at the Journeymen Classic. He teched Jacob Cox of N.C. State and beat his teammate, then No. 6-ranked Connor McGonagle, before facing off against (and defeating) 2023 senior world champion and NCAA champion Vito Arujau. Cornell’s Arujau, who beat two-time NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young in last year’s national championship, had not lost a folkstyle match prior to this contest since Jan. 6, 2023 when he dropped to Virginia Tech All-American Sam Latona. Arujau was considered one of the most dangerous wrestlers in the NCAA this season, someone who had jumped level and someone who could compete for an Olympic spot in March.
A loss to Crookham was not on the Bingo card.
RELIVE ALL OF THE WEEK 1 UPSETS:
Nevertheless, Crookham prevailed. He topped Arujau 8-4 and hasn’t lost since. He’s also racked up wins against All-American Aaron Nagao and No. 23 Vince Santaniello, putting him No. 1 in the country in the current rankings. Crookham could see Arujau again on Jan. 13, but, at least for now, his upset against the reigning NCAA champion earns him top honors in this category.
Arujau, however, wasn’t the only NCAA champ to fall already this season. In another wild upset, Cornell’s Julian Ramirez topped 2021 NCAA champion and four-time Big 12 champion David Carr at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational 4-3, and Stanford’s Lorenzo Norman also topped former Cardinal Shane Griffith 4-2 in the same tournament. Griffith actually took a loss to Ramirez in 2021, meaning that the Big Red star has two wins over former national champs in three years.
Carr’s loss to Ramirez this year was particularly surprising, just given how rarely Carr takes Ls. Prior to this match, Carr had just three varsity losses in his career to the following people: NCAA champion Ryan Deakin in 2019, All-American Hunter Willits in 2022 and two-time NCAA champion Keegan O’Toole in the 2023 national finals, and now Ramirez.
Griffith, on the other hand, has taken some in-season losses since his 2021 title win, but the 4-2 result in his match against Stanford’s Norman was still unexpected, particularly because Norman is a freshman wrestling a sixth-year senior and former leader of the Cardinal program.
Statistics suggest that defending national champions who take in-season losses have a history of rallying back in March. We’ll have to see if this year follows that same trend.
Most dominant wrestler: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri)
Finalists: Aaron Brooks (Penn State), Carter Starocci (Penn State), DJ Washington (Indiana)
Putting Keegan O’Toole’s name at the top of a dominance list is nothing out of the ordinary. The Mizzou star, known for his funky scrambling and pinning ability, has been a notable leader at the 165-pound weight class his entire career, finishing third in the country as a freshman and then winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 with 64% and 59% bonus stats respectively.
This year, O’Toole is 8-0 on the season with a 100% bonus rate, and while he hasn’t wrestled the deepest schedule yet, he does have a pin against national qualifier No. 17 Cael Carlson of Oklahoma. O’Toole’s schedule will also intensify in the coming weeks as well, as he could see No. 24 Connor Brady, No. 27 Hunter Garvin, No. 13 Peyton Hall and No. 3 Julian Ramirez, all in January.
The real test for O’Toole will come on Feb. 25 though when he could meet No. 4 David Carr for the fourth rivalry dual between these two in their careers. Carr had two wins over O’Toole last season, one in the dual and one in the Big 12 finals, but O’Toole picked up the most recent win in the NCAA finals. Maintaining a 100% bonus rate throughout the entire season will be difficult for O’Toole with someone like Carr in his weight, but, at least at this moment, O’Toole has shown that he’s the most dominant college wrestler in the country this season, based on his number of wins and his bonus statistics.
In addition to O'Toole, three other athletes — Aaron Brooks, Carter Starocci and DJ Washington — have an undefeated record and a 100% bonus rate*. Brooks and Starocci are each 4-0 while Washington, who competes in the same weight class as Starocci, is 3-0. Of these three athletes, Starocci has the best win, as he beat No. 11 Nick Incontrera of Penn by tech whereas Brooks has bonus wins over No. 27 Martin Cosgrove and No. 32 John Crawford and Washington has a major decision victory against No. 17 Alex Cramer.
ATHLETES TO KNOW: These are the 25 individuals to watch this season
Washington is the only athlete on this list who has not previously earned All-American honors, but 100% is 100% bonus, and, given that he’s one of just four athletes in the country with that stat, he can’t be ignored. Interestingly, Washington does also have a career win over Starocci, though the Nittany Lion has dominated him in their last two meetings. He could see Starocci again on Jan. 14 in a dual that will threaten not only his bonus rate but his win rate. In the meantime, Washington is doing everything he can to keep himself in the national conversation.
With 100% bonus as the bar for this category, a number of dominant athletes have been left out that are worth mentioning, starting with Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen. The Panther senior is 13-0 on the year with a 84.62% bonus rate. The only athletes he didn’t major, pin or tech were No. 4 Lenny Pinto and No. 15 Dylan Fishback, but he does have bonus wins over All-Americans Will Feldkamp and Gavin Kane. Keckeisen is the definitive No. 1-ranked athlete at 184 pounds, and, after finishing second last year, he’s on a clear mission to take home top honors this year.
One of the other notable athletes dominating the field this year is a formal rival of Keckeisen’s: Trent Hidlay. Keckeisen and Hidlay split matches last year, but Keckeisen outplaced his N.C. State foe at the national tournament. Hidlay, though, does also have an NCAA finals appearance on his résumé after winning four consecutive matches at the 2021 national tournament before dropping 3-2 to Aaron Brooks of Penn State. Both Brooks and Hilday have both now moved up to 197 pounds, and while they aren’t scheduled to dual this year, there is a high likelihood that they’ll meet at some point at NCAAs, perhaps in the finals yet again. Hidlay is currently 15-0 on the year with an 86.67% bonus rate, but much like DJ Washington, Trent Hidlay is going to have a tough time maintaining 100% bonus with a three-time Penn State NCAA champ in his weight, though Brooks has never bonsued Hidlay, so even if the Pack All-American drops to Brooks, he could very well end Brooks’ bonus streak.
The only other undefeated athlete in the country with a bonus rate above 84% is UT-Chattanooga’s Brayden Palmer who is 8-0 so far this season, though none of his wins so far have come against ranked opponents. Palmer leads the SoCon conference by quite a significant margin, and he’ll likely have his chance against Top 33 opponents potentially at the Southern Scuffle.
ALL STAR WRESTLERS: Here’s what we learned from the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic
*Athletes who lost their All-Star bouts were not considered undefeated for the purposes of this particular mid-season award. While the All-Star bout is an exhibition, these awards were based on the results of the first six weeks of the college wrestling season, meaning that every dual mattered and every dual counted as part of this assessment.
Biggest impact transfer: Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State)
Finalists: Jared Franek (Iowa), Bernie Truax (Penn State), Lucas Davison (Michigan), Aaron Nagao (Penn State), Caleb Smith (Nebraska), Shane Griffith (Michigan)
The active nature of the college wrestling transfer portal was a huge storyline coming into the 2023-2024 season and for good reason. Michigan, the 2022 Big Ten champion, added four All-American transfers in the offseason and just picked up a fifth in Wisconsin’s Austin Gomez. Iowa added two middleweight All-Americans into its lineup too, adding further depth to the already incomparable Big Ten conference. Iowa State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Rutgers also made big moves, and, now that the dust has settled and these athletes have adjusted to their new homes, it’s clear that some of the individuals, in particular, have made huge contributions. Davison isn't the only Michigan transfer in the mix, as the Wolverines also added 2021 NCAA champion Shane Griffith who is now wrestling up a weight at 174 pounds while boasting a 5-1 record.
TRANSFER PORTAL NEWS: These are the biggest transfers to watch this year
Two more transfers worth a shoutout here are Penn State’s Aaron Nagao and Nebraska's Caleb Smith. Nagao is one of three Penn State transfers this year alongside Mitchell Mesenbrink and Traux. Nagao made a name for himself last year at the Big Ten tournament when he finished second to two-time NCAA champion Roman Bravo-Young and went on to finish fifth at the NCAA tournament while wrestling for Minnesota. Now Nagao is competing for the Blue and White while holding a 5-1 record. He’s funky and tough on top, and he’s someone who is without a doubt in the All-American mix and someone who can score serious points for the reigning team champions.
Smith, meanwhile, competes at 125 pounds and will look to be the second lightweight transfer to All-American in as many years after Indiana transfer Liam Cronin finished third at the weight class in 2023. Smith comes from Appalachian State, and while he's been seeded as high as No. 5 at the NCAA tournament, he has yet to finish on the podium, though he'll head into second semester ranked No. 4 right now.
Transferring is rampant across the sport, but this list is limited to student-athletes who are competing for their new school for the first time. Thus, transfers like Real Woods, Stephen Buchanan, Michael Beard, Anthony Noto or Matt Ramos, who began their college careers somewhere else but are now beginning a second, third or fourth year with their programs, were not considered for this particular award.
Best dual: Iowa vs. Iowa State
Finalists: Ohio State vs. N.C. State, Pittsburgh vs. Ohio State, Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech
In front of a sold-out Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State, with its best lineup in the Kevin Dresser era, attempted to end the 17-straight Cy-Hawk win streak of the Iowa Hawkeyes on Nov. 26 in what has been, so far, the best dual of the year.
The Cyclones were in the fight every step of the way, winning 133-pounds, nearly pulling off the upset at 141 pounds (and 157 pounds), earning a gritty win at 149-pounds and scoring bonus points at 165 pounds. They looked like a winning team. Until Iowa got creative.
Iowa head coach Tom Brands debuted Patrick Kennedy for the first time this year at 174 pounds, bumped up true freshman Gabe Arnold at 184 pound and sent out the experienced, and (now top-20 ranked) Zach Glazier at 197 pounds to take care of Iowa State. Three back-to-back-to-back decisions wins iced the dual for Iowa, even as Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida capped off the dual with a major decision. The Iowa Hawkeyes reigned supreme once again, but Iowa State did not go down without a fight.
Beyond Iowa vs. Iowa State, all of the other duals in contention for this “Dual of the Year (So Far)” award included the Buckeyes. Ohio State started the season with a bang, defeating the then-No. 5 Virginia Tech Hokies, 24-12. The Buckeyes then topped Edinboro, Columbia and Hofstra before taking an upset loss to then-No. 19 Pittsburgh in a result that launched the Panthers up to No. 13 in the national rankings and dropped the Buckeyes down to No. 10. The roller coaster continued though as Ohio State rebounded and outscored No. 2 N.C. State earlier this week at the Collegiate Duals, 21-20, headlined by pins from Brendan McCrone, Nic Bouzakis and Jesse Mendez.
The performance will no doubt elevate the Buckeyes in the national rankings this week and re-emphasize their status as a trophy-contending team. Again, any one of those three Ohio State duals could be in contention for this award, and would certainly be worthy of this award, but, given the history, the drama and the storylines associated with the wild results at the Cy-Hawk dual, the "Dual of the Season (So Far)" award belongs to Iowa and Iowa State.
Rookie of the year (so far): Ryan Crookham (Lehigh)
Finalists: Dylan Fishback (NC State), Nasir Bailey (Little Rock), Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State), Evan Frost (Iowa State), Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh), Gabe Arnold (Iowa)
Let’s start and end these awards with Lehigh’s Ryan Crookham. A freshman who beats a returning NCAA champion and senior world champ and steals the starting spot (at least for now) from his teammate deserves “rookie of the year” honors. Now, Crookham does have the advantage of having taken a redshirt, which allowed him to transition to college wrestling and enter this season primed and ready to go, but even with that, Crookham is a freshman who is in a great position to win a national title, and as a result, takes the midseason “Rookie of the Year (So Far)” title by default.
Crookham is far from the only athlete in this conversation, however. Six freshmen currently sit in the top 10 in their respective weight classes, led, of course, by Crookham at No. 1 at 133 pounds.
N.C. State’s Dylan Fishback comes in next at No. 5 at 184, and he's been steadily climbing in the rankings this year and has a statement win over All-American Trey Munoz. Fishback is currently the top-ranked ACC athlete at the weight, and while he has taken three losses this year to Lenny Pinto, Keckisen and Jaden Bullock, he’s undefeated against his conference and will have the chance to solidify that record even further once ACC duals begin. Pittsburgh’s Reece Heller, who currently sits at No. 15 in the national rankings, will likely be the athlete to give Fishback the most trouble, though Heller has taken three losses himself this year as well.
Like Fishback, Little Rock’s Nasir Bailey, who is currently ranked No. 8, leads his conference, and he’ll enter the second half of the wrestling season with a 9-1 record following a loss to Arajau 4-0 in the Collegiate Duals. His biggest competition in the Pac-12 will come from Stanford standout freshman Tyler Knox, and they’ll meet on Jan. 28, but Bailey has already been extensively tested outside of the Pac-12. He picked up a huge tech fall over another highly-ranked freshman, No. 9 Evan Frost of Iowa State, and he also has a win over No. 23 Vince Santaniello as well as former national qualifier Jace Koelzer.
Frost has put up some solid wins of his own this year, most notably beating Knox and Blood Round finisher Brody Teske in the Iowa vs. Iowa State dual, and the more success Frost has, the better that tech fall by Bailey looks. At No. 8 and No. 9 respectively, Bailey and Frost are both in the All-American conversation on paper, and the big question surrounding their potential podium finish will be how they string three, four or five matches together on the national stage.
ALL-AMERICANS: Here’s what it takes to finish on the podium as a true freshman
Speaking of freshmen who could compete for All-American honors in March, Oklahoma State’s No. 8 Tagen Jamison and Pitt’s No. 10 Dayton Pitzer are also in this discussion, and they’ll round out the “Midseason Rookie of the Year” finalists. Jamison’s best wins at 141 pounds came against No. 6 Brock Hardy, No. 17 Josh Koderhandt and No. 18 Josh Koderhandt, while Pitzer has wins over No. 13 Grady Griess, No. 14 and No. 23 Seth Nevills at heavyweight.
There is one more name that needs to be included here, though this particular wrestler may not actually compete as part of the varsity lineup this season, and that’s none other than Iowa’s Gabe Arnold. The freshman Hawkeye has wrestled two duals so far, and he’s beaten an All-American in both, topping Travis Wittlake 4-2 at 174 pounds in the Oregon State dual and Will Feldkamp at 184 pounds 3-2 in the Iowa State dual. Arnold can wrestle in several more duals this season while preserving his redshirt, but if Iowa elects to pull that shirt and throw him in, Arnold has shown he can compete with anyone, regardless of age or experience.