The collegiate duals have been one of the biggest events for wrestling fans to look forward to in the early part of the season these past couple of years and they have just announced their teams.
The event is set to go down from December 18th-19th
Teams Competing/Top Wrestlers(AAs):
Cornell
Vito Arujau (133), Chris Foca (174), Jacob Cardenas (197)
Iowa State
David Carr (165), Yonger Bastida (285)
NC State
Kai Orine (133), Ed Scott (157), Trent Hidlay (197)
Ohio State
Dylan D’Emilio (149), Sammy Sasso (157), Carson Kharchla (174), Gavin Hoffman (197)
Northern Iowa
Parker Keckeisen (184)
Lock Haven
Anthony Noto (125)
Pitt
Cole Matthews (141)
Little Rock
Overview:
Obviously just based off of what we know now as a lot of things can still change with rosters and schools potentially dropping out or getting added.
The biggest thing to note is no Penn State or Iowa this year.
Top Potential Individual Matchups:
Trent Hilday vs Jacob Cardenas is the main match that sticks out above the rest. Cardenas was an All-American last season at 197 pounds and Hidlay is moving up from 184 so it should be a good match if we see it. In addition to this Ohio State’s Gavin Hoffman is also in the mix as he placed in 2022.
Vito Arujau vs Kai Orine is a match that we could very well see, Orine placed last season and Vito of course is the defending champion and just made the world team for Belgrade. We could potentially see Vito up at 141 early in the season which is not out of the question.
At 285 we have Yonger Bastida, Lewis Fernandes, and Dayton Pitzer. Bastida was the 197 for Iowa State last season and was an All-American in 2022. Fernandes was out with an injury last season but was a blood-round finisher in 2022. Pitzer is going to be interesting as he claimed wins over Trent Hillger and Cohlton Schultz last season but Pitt decided to redshirt him. The last guy and this should come as no surprise is Ohio State’s Nick Feldman who we have not seen in action in a while.
With Sammy Sasso most likely up at 157 we could see a potential match with Ed Scott which should be a fun one to watch
Is there a date set?