The 2023-2024 college wrestling season dual season has officially ended, so with the postseason on the horizon, let's take a look back at some of the best matches at every weight class.
Note: For each weight class, a "winning match" has been identified along with 2-3 finalists. This is an entirely subjective list based on the significance of these wins in the rankings, the storylines surrounding each match and the amount of points put up by the athlete.
125 pounds: Jakob Camacho (NC State) over Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech), 5-1
Finalists: Patrick McKee (Minnesota) over Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), FALL (4:47); Nico Provo (Stanford) over Matt Ramos (Purdue), 8-1
Call it recency bias, call it rivalry fever, but Jakob Camacho's 5-1 win on Feb. 23 over Virginia Tech's Cooper Flynn is the 2023-2024 125-pound match of the season so far.
Flynn started the year in Olympic redshirt behind Virginia Tech All-American Eddie Ventresca, while Camacho, despite holding the No. 1 spot in the country for a brief moment, also sat behind teammate and 2023 ACC champion Jarrett Trombley for several duals this year.
But, the final dual of the season, it was Camacho vs. Flynn, two athletes who have the talent to win a title but have taken their own unique paths into the lineup, and Camacho claimed victory.
CAMACHO UPSETS π¨
β NC State Wrestling π€ΌββοΈ (@PackWrestle)
Flynn came into the match ranked No. 4 while Camacho was No. 14 in the country, though the Pack veteran wrestled like he couldn't care less about the rankings. He came out and attacked, earning the only offensive points of the match. His win also gave NC State three key team points in the Wolfpack's 20-12 win over the Hokies.
Camacho and Flynn will likely meet again in the ACC tournament and potentially in the NCAA tournament. But the latest victory belongs to Camacho. This result also shifted the Pack senior up to No. 10 in the rankings and slid Flynn down to No. 6.
LAST YEAR AT 125:
Purdue's Matt Ramos still paces this crazy weight class at No. 1, with his biggest win coming against Iowa's No. 2 Drake Ayala in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and his most notable loss coming to Stanford's No. 18 Nico Provo at the Cliff Keen Invitational. No. 4 Patrick McKee and No. 5 Eric Barnett participated in the other bout that earned "match of the year" finalist status, as McKee pinned Barnett in the second period during yet another result in a long line of back-and-forth outcomes within this rivalry.
If these three spotlighted matches prove anything, it's to expect the unexpected at 125 pounds. The NCAA champ will be the guy that can best weather the storm of what will be a deep national championship bracket come March.
133 pounds: Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) over Vito Arujau (Cornell), 8-4
Finalists: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) over Aaron Nagao (Penn State), FALL (7:28); Kade Moore (Missouri) over Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), FALL (3:47)
Anytime a No. 1 wrestler goes down, heads turn. We've seen this process happen across four different weight classes so far this year, but one of the first instances, Lehigh's Ryan Crookham's 8-4 win over 2023 NCAA champion Vito Arujau, was the most significant upset of this caliber in the 2023-2024 season, given Arujau's accolades.
π Biggest Upset π
β NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling)
Ryan Crookham over Vito Arujau, 8-4. x
This match already earned recognition from krikya18.com after the first semester for both midseason "upset of the year" and "rookie of the year." Crookham now adds "match of the (dual) season" to his resume.
Crookham has also since proven that this result was anything but a fluke. The freshman Mountain Hawk is ranked No. 1 in the country with wins over teammate Connor McGonagle, All-American Aaron Nagao and EIWA champion Michael Colaiocco. He is 15-0 on the year with 66.67% bonus. Crookham will be tested at EIWAs where he will see Arujau and Colaiocco again, but there's a confidence that can come from having the last win, and if Crookham can run the table at the conference tournament, he'll likely hold that top seed heading into NCAAs, which could put him on the opposite side of both Arujau and 2021 senior world silver medalist Daton Fix in the bracket for nationals.
HOW CROOKHAM BEAT ARUJAU: Relive that match and the other headlines from the Journeymen Classic
Crookham's success adds a new wrinkle into a 133-pound weight class that looked to have two clear leaders at the start of the season: Arujau and three-time NCAA finalist Fix. But he's not the only one creating intrigue here.
No. 5 Dylan Ragusin also burst onto the scene this season after initially electing to take a redshirt, and he's stepped in for injured teammate All-American Chris Cannon in a major way. Ragusin won the Michigan State Open, the Cleveland State Open and Midlands while still in redshirt but then racked up varsity wins over NCAA qualifier Braxton Brown and Michigan State's Andrew Hampton before scoring his breakthrough win against All-American Aaron Nagao of Penn State.
Dylan Ragusin gets one back for ! πͺ
β Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling)
No. 6 at 133 just pinned No. 4 Aaron Nagao of Penn State. π³
This match stands out for a couple of reasons: 1.) Ragusin's victory solidified his status as an All-American contender and 2.) the offense and elite scrambling exhibited by Ragusin and Nagao is praise-worthy, period. These guys turned up the pace and never slowed down. Fans will potentially see this match at Big Tens and NCAAs, and, if so, pay attention. These two athletes are special.
Excitement value is a theme that runs through all of the winners and finalists for these "matches of the year." This intensity was on full display in Crookham's match and shined bright in Ragusin's match. This high pace and aggressiveness also stood out in one more match this year: Kade Moore's pin over Sam Latona in Missouri's 22-17 win over the Hokies. This win marked Moore's first ranked win of his career and the first fall of his season in this match. More than anything, the result showed that Moore can step up when the moment calls for a big performance. Moore has missed some time with injury this month, . His health will be a factor heading into the national tournament, but his win over Latona showed what he's capable of, if he's at full strength.
141 pounds: Sergio Lemley (Michigan) over Real Woods (Iowa), 14-2
Finalists: Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) over Ryan Jack (NC State), 15-10; Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) over Brock Hardy (Nebraska), 11-8 (SV); Beau Bartlett (Penn State) over Jesse Mendez (Ohio State), 4-1 (SV)
Much like 133 pounds, the 141-pound weight class was defined this year by a wild upset, and while this list is not 'biggest upsets of the year,' and is instead 'best matches,' Michigan's Sergio Lemley's win over No. 1 Real Woods still deserves top honors at 141 pounds.
Lemley, a freshman, was 12-4 on the season heading into his match against Woods. His most significant win against Clay Carlson of South Dakota State showed he could compete with All-Americans, but his opening season loss to Joel Vandervere of Northwestern showed some flaws in his game. He was clearly improving though, as he later reversed his result against Vandervere by fall and stepped on to the mat against the Hawkeyes ready to roll for the biggest match of his college career.
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He held Woods, the 2023 NCAA finalist at the weight, scoreless through the first three minutes in this match and then went on the attack, scoring a reversal and back points to take the lead 6-0. From there, the match was all Lemley's. He added eight more points in the third period by way of a penalty point and a short-time cradle that gave him a takedown and four point back points for the major decision.
Lemley now sits at No. 10 in the rankings following losses to No. 6 Brock Hardy and No. 1 Beau Bartlett in addition to his early season losses to Vandervere, Tagen Jamison and Cael Happel, while Woods holds on at No. 2 with his only blemishes this year against Bartlett and Lemlely.
Woods' loss to Lemely, combined with Bartlett's win over the Hawkeye and his wins over then-No. 3 Jesse Mendez and Hardy, gave the Nittany Lion the top spot in the national rankings. He'll likely see Woods in the Big Ten tournament though for what will be an intense, likely low-scoring affair. Bartlett is strategic, and he's selective in his attacks. But when he shoots, he usually scores, and that reliability will make him the title favorite and a threat to bring even more hardware and accolades back to State College.
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There are a number of other athletes who will be fighting for podium spots this March though including Pittsburgh's Cole Matthews, who has had three huge wins this year over Ryan Jack, Mendez and Lachlan McNeil, and Cael Happel, a Northern Iowa veteran who earned a season-defining win over All-American Brock Hardy. Matthews is currently No. 14 in the national rankings, behind No. 3 Mendez, No. 4 Jack, No. 5 McNeil and No. 6 Hardy because of early season losses to unranked Brennan Van Hoecke, and athletes outside the top-20 like No. 24 Danny Pucino and No. 27 Kal Miller. Happel, meanwhile is No. 8 nationally and having the best season of his career.
WINNER at 141 Β»
β Pitt Wrestling (@Pitt_WRES)
ANOTHER TOP-5 WIN FOR COLE π
15-10 VICTORY OVER #4 RYAN JACK βΌοΈ
THE FITZ IS BOUNCING AFTER THAT π
THE ACC CHAMP IS STILL HERE π£οΈ Β»
In just a few weeks, all of these guys will be one bracket, and only the best will prevail. These big dual match results though β like Lemley's win over Woods, Bartlett's win over Mendez, Happel's victory against Hardy and Matthew's offense-centric success against Jack β do show us what the best version of these winners look like and serve as a fun way to identify how they could be busters of that bracket come NCAAs.
149 pounds: Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) over Austin Gomez (Nebraska), 11-4
Finalists: Kyle Parco (Arizona State) over Ridge Lovett (Nebraska), 4-3; Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) over Tyler Kasak (Penn State), 11-8 (SV)
Let's get this out of the way first: The timing of this pick is not great.
Nebraska's Ridge Lovett just took a loss to Arizona State's Kyle Parco, so there's a valid argument to make that Parco's performance in that match was so impressive that it outshines the Lovett-Gomez match. But, we'll put that aside for a moment.
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Looking at Lovett's season overall, and the broader state of 149 pounds (and actually, college wrestling as a whole), it's hard to ignore the consistent offense and grit that the Husker All-American showed against 2022 Big Ten champion Austin Gomez in February. He scored 11 points against an athlete that, in their last meeting, pinned Lovett in the Big Ten finals. This was a No. 1 vs. No. 2 match, and we know those don't always happen in season. Gomez and Lovett toed the line and lit up the scoreboard β for that effort, their match wins top honors here.
Now we can talk about Parco. After Lovett's match against Gomez, he was looking every bit like a title favorite. He had beaten All-Americans Caleb Henson, Dylan D'Emilio and Gomez and had a 59.9% bonus rate. Then came Parco. In his home gym, the Arizona State All-American delivered Lovett is first loss of the season 4-3 and showed that he, himself, is a title contender.
Finishing the regular season πͺ split their dual matches this weekend, defeating No. 8 Lehigh for the program's first top-10 win of the season. The Sun Devils fought valiantly against Nebraska, with Kyle Parco beating the nation's top 149-pounder!
β Sun Devil Club (@sundevilclub)
Parco won this match, but Lovett put up more offensive points in his match against Gomez than Parco put up against Lovett. This also isn't a rankings list. It's about offense, excitement and storylines. Parco's upset nearly topped the Lovett vs. Gomez match, but not quite. Thus, despite the loss, it's Ridge Lovett who takes the crown for best match of the season at the weight and Kyle Parco who earned finalist honors for his eventual win over the previously undefeated-on the-year Lovett.
Iowa's Caleb Rathjen also earns honorable mention honors here for his win over Tyler Kasak in the Penn State vs. Iowa dual, and this nod to Rathjen is less about the technical nature of the match itself and more about the way in which this match shifted perspectives on Rathjen. He went from someone fighting for his spot in the starting lineup to someone ranked inside the top ten in a matter of days. Since beating Kasak, Rathjen also notched an 8-1 win over NCAA qualifier Joe Zargo of Wisconsin.
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Rathjen will still have a tough path to the podium. Just within the Big Ten, he could see Kasak, Gomez and Lovett, all of whom are ranked inside the top ten. Lovett will no doubt want to win the title and set himself up as best as possible for a deep title run, something that Parco will be trying to do for himself out West.
The 149-pound weight class is not a lock for anyone, and these three highlighted matches show that, when elite talent meets, intensity flairs. None of these athletes have ever won a national title. Whoever wins on the big stage makes history.
157 pounds: Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) over Brock Mauller (Missouri), 13-10
Finalists: Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) over Peyton Robb (Nebraska), 12-6; Peyton Robb (Nebraska) over Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) ,6-4; Ed Scott (NC State) over Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), 18-7
If there's a list for 'best matches' and one of the criteria is excitement, you know Bryce Andonian's name is going to be in the mix. On this list, he's in the mix twice, once for a win, and once for a loss. His win over Missouri All-American Brock Mauller is the match of the year at 157 pounds though, so that's the place to start.
Andonian is known for his funky scrambles and his crazy style, and his approach has worked for him. He finished third at NCAAs in 2022 and seventh in 2023, though he gave NCAA finalist Levi Haines everything he had in 2023 in the quarterfinals.
This year, Andonian rolled through his first ten matches, including a major over No. 8 Daniel Cardenas of Stanford and a pin over Iowa State's Cody Chittum of Iowa State, before he hit ACC foe Ed Scott. The Wolfpack All-American majored Andonian 18-7 in a match that earned honorable mention for the year because of the offense from Scott.
MORE COLLEGE WRESTLING:
If Andonian looked like he might have been in a slump at this point in the season, he showed people why he should never be underestimated a little over a month later, as he topped Mauller 13-10, driving the pace and scoring his way. Andonian was then injured in a dual against Cornell and has not wrestled since. His absence has been felt by fans. Communication from ( from 3304 Sports) suggests that Andonian will be back for ACCs where we could see a renewal of one of the best rivalries in the ACC: Andonian vs. Scott.
In the meantime, enjoy reliving Andonian vs. Mauller.
But talent at 157 is not limited to Andonian or Scott. This weight class is deep, and while No. 1 Levi Haines has separated himself at the top, there are a number of talented athletes looking for their shot against the returning finalist.
No. 3 Jacori Teemer, for instance, is one of those athletes. Teemer is 19-3, but one of those losses came in a had-fought 6-4 battle against Peyton Robb. Much like Andonian, Robb and Teemer are two guys who you can count on leaving everything on the mat, especially when they compete against one another.
Teemer vs. Robb. Rematch set for Sunday in Tempe π₯
β Sun Devil Wrestling (@ASUWrestling)
π₯
Robb is on this list again because, much like Andonian, he's someone who seems to invite excitement. His match against Minnesota's Michael Blockhus is worth mentioning because Blockhus flies under the radar as a dangerous All-American who doesn't get enough attention nationally; his 12-6 win over Robb proved that he's not just a podium contender but a title threat. Robb is someone who could win it all, as he showed in Vegas, but, like the entirety of 157 pounds, he will have to navigate a deep bracket full of funky styles, experienced stars and elite up-and-comers.
165 pounds: Julian Ramirez (Cornell) over David Carr (lowa State), 4-3
Finalists: Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) over Michael Caliendo (Iowa), 14-11; Mitchell Messenbrink (Penn State) over Cameron Amine (Michigan) , 11-1
David Carr has become one of the most beloved wrestlers on the Iowa State roster. He's helped rejuvenate a historic program, and he'll be a key part of the Cyclones' push for a team trophy in March. Earlier this year though, Carr suffered one of the biggest upset losses of the season when he dropped a match to Cornell's Julian Ramirez at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Ramirez has a history of taking down national champions, as he also has a career win over NCAA champion Shane Griffith. This match, though, was still a surprise, given how well Carr had been wrestling up to that point and the fact that Carr seemed to have created distance between himself and the No. 3 athlete at the weight.
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Ramirez, of course, had other plans. The Big Red junior topped Carr in Vegas and is now ranked No. 3 with Carr retaking the No. 2 spot following a win over Oklahoma State's Izzak Olejnik. Carr will now enter the Big 12 tournament with the chance to be the first five-time conference wrestling title winner in school history. To achieve that goal though, he'll have to get past two-time NCAA champion Keegan O'Toole, an athlete he's beaten twice but someone who has the last win over Carr in the 2023 NCAA finals.
Carr, Ramirez, O'Toole and Olejnik are all dangerous, but two other stars add depth to this weight including No. 4 Dean Hamiti who notched a key, wild, high-scoring match against No. 6 Mikey Caliendo 14-11 two weeks ago and Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State who is undefeated on the year with his best win coming against Michigan three-time All-American Cameron Amine 11-1. Mesenbrink is currently ranked No. 5 in the country, and, just to add intrigue, if Mesenbrink runs the table at Big Tens and ends up on the opposite side of the bracket as O'Toole, he could end up wrestling his former high school teammate in the national finals. A lot would have to go right for both athletes to be in this situation, but it's just another storyline that makes 165 pounds so fascinating this year.
174: Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) over Edmond Ruth (Missouri), 11-7
Finalists: Carter Starocci (Penn State) over Travis Wittlake (Oregon State), 19-3; Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) over Shane Griffith (Michigan), 4-2
This is a unique situation, and it's the only one of its kind on this list: the best match at 174 pounds was won by a 165-pound wrestler. Missouri's Keegan O'Toole deserves recognition for electing to bump up a weight class in the Tigers' dual against Illinois and take out then-No. 3 Edmond Ruth of Illinois. The match proved that O'Toole is strong enough to make the ascent up to 174 next year if he chooses, but, for now, he'll look for his third title down at his home weight of 165 pounds. These kind of strategic, exciting moves deserve to be rewarded though, so credit to O'Toole for putting his undefeated record on the line in this moment and walking away with a win.
MIDSEASON AWARDS: O'Toole earned 'Most Dominant' honors from the NCAA in December
For the second weight class in a row, Penn State also has a finalist for "match of the year." Now, let's be clear: Penn State has had an absolutely dominant season and put up impressive result after impressive result. But, with so many storylines in the NCAA, it's sometimes hard for No. 1-ranked wrestlers to get this kind of spotlight in these moments because their results can feel so expected. In Starocci's case, at least one of his ten bonus-point wins needed to be mentioned. The Travis Wittlake match, a bout Starocci won by tech fall, was the pick. Wittlake is an All-American, a credentialed athlete. Starocci dominated him. His win over Wittlake is his only win over an All-American so far this year, just because of the nature of the schedule that he's wrestled, and his results show that Starocci has separated himself from even the best at his weight.
I appreciate that coach. God will take care of the rest. Heal up Travisπͺπ½
β Carter Starocci (@carterstarocci)
The other cool thing about the Wittlake match is Starocci's personal connection to the Beaver wrestler. Wittlake was hurt in a car incident several weeks after his bout with Starocci, but Starocci paid tribute to his former opponent by wearing orange socks (the color of Wittlake's Oregon State program) during a match after the accident. This was a classy move by a competitor who sometimes gets a reputation for being overly vocal or competitive. Wittlake will not be at the NCAA tournament after his injury, and Starocci too injured himself in his most recent bout, though Penn State has not released any indication about seriousness of his injury. Regardless of what happens in March, Starocci's dominance, and the respect he made to Wittlake later, make this match worth mentioning among the best matches at 174 pounds.
Lastly, Stanford's Lorenzo Norman's win over Shane Griffith, a Stanford national champion and current Michigan wrestler who helped save Stanford wrestling, needs to be acknowledged. This loss for Griffith came at the Cliff Keen Invitation, a tournament where Griffith also took a second loss via a countable medical forfeit against MJ Gaitan of Iowa State. Griffith has not lost since, and he'll head into the postseason chasing his second national title and first Big Ten title at his new school and new weight. He's a Michigan Man now, so while that Stanford loss likely felt weird for Griffith, he seems to take great pride in representing the Wolverines. He'll have his chance to do so on the national stage in two weeks.
184 pounds: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) over Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State), 12-6
Finalists: Ryder Rogotze (Ohio State) over Bernie Truax (Penn State), Gabe Arnold (Iowa) over Will Feldkamp (Iowa State), Dylan Fishback (NC State) over Trey Munoz (Oregon State), 9-6
Parker Keckeisen is the face of the Northern Iowa program, and when you're the face of the program, ranked No. 1 in the country and you beat the No. 2 guy in the country, you earn "best match of the year." Since taking second to Aaron Brooks in last year's NCAA finals, Keckeisen has not had one loss. He's 20-0 with 86.96% bonus, and he's absolutely in the Hodge Trophy conversation.
In the battle of 1 vs 2 at 184, No. 1 Parker Keckeisen tops No. 2 Dustin Plott 12-6! x π₯ ESPN+ /
β NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling)
His 12-6 win over Plott confirmed that. Keckeisen will see Plott again at the Big 12 tournament, but if he wins again, he will create further separation from himself and the rest of the field. Even now, this is Keckeisen's weight until proven otherwise.
There are a few other 184 pounds worth mentioning of course. Penn State transfer All-American Bernie Truax, who has taken fourth the last three years, is a solid 11-3 on the season and ranked No. 6 after taking losses to Ohio State's No. 16 Ryder Rogotzke by fall and No. 3 Lenny Pinto and No. 4 Trey Munoz by decision. The Rogotzke match, in particular, earns honorable mention for "best match of the year" at 184 pounds though because of the strength and determination of true freshman Rogotzke against such a seasoned opponent.
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Earning honorable mention honors as well is Dylan Fishback of NC State who took down Munoz 9-6 to claim a big win for the rookie. Pinto, Munoz and Truax all have three losses, two of which were so significant that they made the national list. Plott has just two losses, one to Keckeisen and one to Pinto. The only top 184-pounder unscathed right now: Northern Iowa's own: Keckeisen.
Oh, but we can't forget about Iowa's Gabe Arnold. Though he's not likely to wrestle in the postseason given that he can still preserve his redshirt, Gabe Arnold notched two wins over All-Americans this year including Will Feldkamp and Travis Wittlake. The former of those two matches happened up a weight class from Arnold's typical 174-pound weight class, but, even outsized, Arnold pulled off the win in his first Cy-Hawk dual. Expect big things from this young Iowa upperweight as soon as he joins the starting lineup.
197 pounds: Lou DePrez (Binghamton) over Jacob Cardenas (Cornell), 7-3
Finalists: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) over Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma), 4-1; Zach Glazier (Iowa) over Silas Allred (Nebraska), 11-2
Two months ago, Lou DePrez was an assistant coach at Binghamton University, the school he had competed at since 2017. DePrez had a legendary career for the Bearcats as an athlete, earning All-American honors in 2021 and qualifying for the national tournament four times. In December though, he decided he wanted one last run. DePrez had eligibility left from the COVID season that he had given up to take on his coaching role, but, as it turns out, he wanted to take advantage of that remaining time in an effort to make up for time he missed out on during the pandemic.
π§πππ¦ π§π₯πππ‘ ππππ£π¦ π₯π’ππππ‘π! π
β Binghamton Wrestling (@BearcatsWrestle)
For the 3β£rd week in a row, a Bearcat wrestler has been named EIWA Wrestler of the Week! This week, it's Lou DePrez!
π°: |
He lost an opportunity to compete for a national championship two different times in his career," Binghamton head wrestling coach Kyle Borshoff in a press release about DePrez' return. "He's beaten most of the top ranked wrestlers at 197 lbs., in the country, and his goal is to win a national championship. His presence in our lineup will add an air of confidence for the rest of our team and make us a much better team overall."
DePrez is now 19-1 on the year with his dual season-defining win coming last weekend. DePrez stopped All-American Jacob Cardenas 7-3 in the Binghamton-Cornell dual to earn EIWA Athlete of the Week honors and end the dual season with some serious momentum. DePrez is a wildcard in the 197-pound rankings right now, as he holds down the No. 7 spot, right below All-American Stephen Buchanan, an athlete involved in one of the honorable mention matches of the year.
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Last year's national champion Nino Bonaccorsi has graduated but, in his place, are three-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks who moved up from 184 pounds and 2021 NCAA finalist Trent Hidlay, who also moved up from 184 pounds. Last year's finalist Tanner Sloan is also making moves, as he took down Buchanan in that aforementioned honorable mention match and currently sits at No. 5. Add in national tech fall leader and 2021 NCAA All-American Michael Beard and 2023 Round of 12 finisher Jaxon Smith, and 197 pounds is exciting.
DePrez made the right choice in coming back. Binghamton thrives off his energy and success.
There's also another unexpected 197 pounder in the mix for All-American honors this year in Iowa's Zach Glazier. Glazier spent four years in the Iowa room, waiting for his opportunity, and, now that five-time All-American Jacob Warner has graduated, Glazier has stepped into his role beautifully. The Hawkeye is 16-1 with a lone decision loss to Brooks, but his best performance came on January 12 when Iowa traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the tough Huskers in a dual that could have been tightly-contested. Instead, Iowa took control, winning 22-10 with four of those points coming from Glazier's major decision over 2023 Big Ten champion Silas Allred. Glazier's proven time and again that he isn't just a starter for Iowa, he's a contender. His win over Allred stands out in a year full of great 197-pound matches.
285 pounds: Nick Feldman (Ohio State) over Lucas Davison, (Michigan), 4-3
Finalists: Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) over Zach Elam (Missouri), 13-4; Ben Kueter (Iowa) over Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State), 5-1
The final win in this series belongs to a Buckeye freshman. In a previous interview with krikya18.com Nick Feldman said his breakthrough collegiate moment came in the dual against Michigan, when he took the mat with the team score on the line and upset two-time All-American Lucas Davison for victory. This performance not only helped his confidence, according to his interview, but it also gave him the honor of the "best match of the dual season" at heavyweight.
Interestingly, his opponent, Davison, is one of several collegiate heavyweights who started their careers at 197 pounds and has found more success at heavyweight. The best example of someone who has made that jump? Iowa State's Yonger Bastida, the Cyclone anchor who is now 20-0 on the year with 70% bonus. Bastida also has a win over Davison, and he just notched yet another impressive All-American win over Missouri's Zach Elam. Bastida finished in the Round of 16 last year at 197 pounds. This year, he could win a title at 285. His biggest challenges will come from Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson at Big 12s and three-time All-American Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State at NCAAs. Kerkvliet bonused Hendrickson, last year's third-place winner, at the NWCA All-Star Classic, and that bout seemed to suggest that Kerkvliet had jumped levels and would be a frontrunner for the title. But that discourse all happened before Bastida put together the year that he has. The Cyclone cannot be dismissed in this championship discussion, not after the wins that he's had recently.
There's one more question that remains at heavyweight, and it's a question that has become even more important in the last three days following Iowa's dominant team win over Oklahoma State: will the Hawks start true freshman Ben Kueter in place of heavyweight Bradley Hill? Kueter is 5-1 on the year with a lone loss to Kerkvliet, but his victory against Oklahoma State's Konner Doucet suggests he too could finish on the podium. Or, he could opt to wait a year and potentially make an even deeper run in 2025.
These storylines and the athleticism make so many of these heavyweight matches can't-miss affairs.
