While Penn State stole the spotlight this weekend in DI men’s college wrestling when the Nittany Lions broke the NCAA scoring record for most consecutive dual wins, ten other top 15 teams competed this weekend across the country — their results will shake up individual rankings across all ten weights.
Here are the biggest match results to know following the Collegiate Duals and the other slate of top-ranked bouts:
Bouzakis, Davino notch All-American wins and add even more value to Ohio State’s firepower at the lightweights
The 2025 National Dual champion Buckeyes continued to impress this weekend, led, as usual, by two-time defending national champion Jesse Mendez at 141 pounds. Mendez beat All-American Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State for the second time this season, but it was his teammates at 125 and 133 pounds who generated perhaps an even brighter spotlight given their upset wins over All-American Cyclones.
NATIONAL DUAL CHAMPS: How the Buckeyes beat Iowa to claim the 2025 dual tournament title
Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State’s starter at 133 pounds last year, kicked off the action for the Bucks against the Cyclones and continued to show that his descent down to 125 pounds is not an issue for the high-flying lightweight. Bouzakis topped All-American Stevo Poulin 9-2 for his second All-American win of the season after edging out Jore Volk in overtime earlier this fall. He’s now 6-1 on the year with his lone loss coming against teammate Brendan McCrone in the Clarion Open. McCrone and Bouzakis have split time as starters this month, though Bouzakis’ win over Poulin is a nice notch in his belt as he competes for that starting spot.
Teammate Ben Davino carried Bouzakis’ momentum forward and picked up an All-American win himself against Iowa State, topping Evan Frost 4-2 to stay undefeated on the year. Davino, in his first year as a starter, is ranked No. 2 in the country behind defending national champion Lucas Byrd, and while he won’t get a chance to wrestle Bryd before the postseason, he’s expected to see All-Americans Jacob Van Dee, Zan Fugitt and Drake Ayala as well as U20 world champion Marcus Blaze before Big Tens. Davino has already beaten Ayala and looks to be every bit of a title contender in this deep weight class.
RETURNING CHAMPS: Jesse Mendez' journey at Ohio State
Between Mendez’s leadership, Bouzakis’ and Davino’s upsets and wins from Brandon Cannon, Carson Kharchla and Dylan Fishback, the Bucks took the win from the Cyclones 21-13. They also topped Little Rock 34-9 with the only losses in that dual coming at 149, 165 and 184; Ohio State wrestled back-ups at all three of those weights against the Trojans.
Geronimo Rivera makes a statement with upset over No. 7 Zan Fugitt at 133 pounds
Utah Valley doesn’t want to be left out of the discussion at 133 pounds — Geronimo Rivera proved that on Thursday night when he topped Wisconsin All-American Zan Fugitt 5-2 in the Wolverine’s 23-14 team loss to the Badgers. Rivera, a true freshman, had a slow start to the season and dropped his first five matches, but he’s found his rhythm now and is 3-0 since December 12 with wins over Bryce Luna of Chattanooga, NCAA qualifier Joey Cruz of Iowa and now Fugitt. His early season results will likely prevent him from breaking into the Top 33 just yet, but he’ll have more opportunities to prove himself against No. 22 Luke Willochell of Wyoming, No. 23 Derek Cardinal of South Dakota State, No. 27 Kade Moore of Missouri and No. 21 Ronnie Ramirez of Oklahoma State in January. Rivera showed last week that, just because he’s not ranked, doesn’t mean he can be overlooked.
Rivera's teammate Bridger Ricks also earned a top-ten upset win against Wisconsin, beating No. 10 Nicolar Rivera at 125 pounds.
WRE | Geronimo Rivera and Bridger Ricks earn big upsets at No. 21 Wisconsin, but Wolverines come up short in team upset bid in 23-14 final against Big Ten Badgers. |
— UVU Wrestling (@UVUwre)
Fugitt, meanwhile, rebounded from his loss against Rivera to pin Carter Dibert of Arizona State in Wisconsin’s 26-15 win over Arizona State. He also beat Gable Strickland of Lock Haven 3-2 to move to 9-2 on the year. Rivera also earned wins against Arizona State and Lock Haven to finish the weekend 2-1.
Oklahoma State flexes on Nebraska (again) with standout All-American wins from Sergio Vega and Cody Merrill
The Oklahoma State Cowboys added a second win over the Huskers this season when they topped Nebraska 22-12 to move to 8-1 on the year. The Cowboys previously beat the Huskers 33-6 at the Collegiate Duals. This is a stacked Oklahoma State squad with ranked athletes at every weight and seven wrestlers in the Top 10, and their ceiling is high under the leadership of second-year head coach David Taylor.
Freshman Sergio Vega has been one of the biggest stars for the Cowboys this year, and he only added to his impressive resume over the weekend when he pinned NCAA finalist Brock Hardy in the first period to give Oklahoma State a 9-3 lead over the Huskers after three weights. This marks Vega’s second win over Hardy, as he majored the veteran 141-pounder at the National Duals. Vega also has wins over NC State All-American Ryan Jack and Iowa All-American Nasir Bailey. Even though Vega has only wrestled eight collegiate matches, he’s competing like a national finalist. The big question will be: How does he stack up against a veteran like Jesse Mendez?
Oklahoma State, as a team, has a high potential. Vega is ranked No. 2 in the country, and returning NCAA finalist Troy Spratley is also in the title conversation at 125 pounds. The Cowboys also have 2024 NCAA champion Richard Figueroa in the lineup, though freshman Ronnie Ramirez wrestled in place of Figueroa this weekend and lost to All-American Jacob Van Dee 4-1.
MEET THE ALL-AMERICANS: These are the 80 guys who finished on the podium last year
The other proven asset in the lineup for Oklahoma State is Casey Swiderski, an Iowa State transfer who All-American’d in 2024 and took a medical redshirt last season before transferring to Stillwater. Swiderski has been up and down this year, but he returned to his winning ways against the Huskers and notched a 7-2 victory against NCAA qualifier No. 5 Chance Lamer. He’ll have No. 13 David Evans of Utah Valley, No. 15 Joshua Edmond of Missouri and No. 28 Caleb Rathjen of Northern Iowa ahead of him in January as he continues to work his way up the rankings. The best version of Swiderski is a top-five wrestlers; Oklahoma State will need him at that best version in March.
149 | Top-five win for Casey 🔥
— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling)
No. 17 Swiderski dec. No. 5 Lamer, 7-2
OSU - 13
NEB - 3
Swiderski’s win over Lamer generated buzz because of his unpredictable year thus far, but other big standout for Oklahoma State in the dual against the Huskers came at 197 pounds when freshman Cody Merrill topped All-American Camden McDanel 2-1. The win wasn’t full of offense or particularly flashy, but these kinds of results give Merrill’s resume consistency and show that he can win the kinds of gritty matches that he could find himself in during the first few rounds of the NCAA tournament in March. Merrill’s now beaten McDanel twice, with the first match going into overtime. This second result doesn’t show a ton of separation, but two tight wins against the top-15 opponent who finished on the podium last year implies that Merrill is fully at the level and a reliable member of this trophy-chasing Cowboy squad.
Oklahoma State’s Spratley, LaDarion Lockett and Konner Doucet also earned wins over the Huskers at 125, 165 and 285 pounds. Nebraska, meanwhile, pulled off an upset (on paper) at 157 pounds when No. 6 Antrell Taylor topped No. 2 Landon Robideau in tie-breakers. Taylor, who won NCAAs last year at the weight, came into the match with a 9-2 record following unexpected early season losses to Logan Rozynski of Lehigh 9-1 and Brandon Cannon of Ohio State 16-4. His win over Robideau shows that he's still a national title contender and can beat anyone on the right day.
The Huskers also earned wins from All-Americans Jacob Van Dee, Chris Minto and Silas Allred at 133, 174 and 184 pounds against Oklahoma State's Ramirez, Alex Facundo and Zack Ryder. These wins weren't enough to hold off the Cowboys, but they are critical ranked wins for Nebraska's stars that will influence seeding come March.
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