Week six of the 2023-2024 NCAA season did not disappoint despite a lack of freakishly stacked tournaments that we’ve been accustomed to so far this year.
However those tournaments can still be found, as the annual Ironman tournament went down this past weekend and many talented recruits cemented their rankings and continuingly made statements in brackets filled with some of the best high school wrestlers around the nation.
Looking more into the NCAA, there was a spew of rivalry dual meets that started at the beginning of the weekend and rolled all the way into Sunday evening.
#19 Pitt steals the headlines this weekend with a monstrous upset over #5 Ohio State, which included the Panthers #14 Cole Matthews defeating the Buckeyes #3 Jesse Mendez, and a three bout sweep to clinch the dual in a hostile environment.
And of course, all upsets will be recognized. Here is a recap of everything that happened in This Week In Wrestling:
PANTHERS PUNCH THE BUCKEYES
In spite of a shocking loss to begin the 2023-2024 season, Keith Gavin and the Pitt Panthers have been on a roll. Since their loss to Navy in early November, Pitt has rattled off four straight dual victories against two teams ranked in the top 20, and have had three consecutive victories over Big 10 teams.
The Panthers marched a few miles West into the hostile Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, and caught a huge swing of momentum late in the dual meet to prevail and upset the #5 Buckeyes 21-13.
After seven bouts, Pitt was trailing 13-10 with three remaining. With their backs against the wall, Pitt got giant upset victories from Reese Heller and Mac Stout to take the lead going into the heavyweight bout, where Dayton Pitzer would put the exclamation point on the upset victory with a major decision over Hogan Swenski.
However the Panthers can thank 141-pounder and #14 ranked Cole Matthews, who gave Pitt a huge boost of momentum with a thrilling 4-2 victory over Ohio State’s #3 Jesse Mendez early on.
Looking ahead at Pitt’s schedule, it is filled with dual meets arranged with multiple teams ranked in the top 10, including two potential showdowns against #6 Cornell and #7 Iowa State next weekend at the National Collegiate Duals. Just less than a month later they’ll host #11 Oklahoma State, go on the road against #7 Iowa State, and then travel back home for duals against #22 Arizona State and #2 NC State. A brutal stretch ahead for a Pitt team who caught fire at the right time.
For Ohio State, their schedule does not get any easier either. Next weekend at the National Collegiate Duals they will be in a pool with Northern Iowa, Lock Haven, and #2 NC State.
For a Buckeyes team that looked great early into the season, they’ll have to rebound quickly. Ohio State will host #6 Cornell in less than a month and will also have their two annually scheduled meetups with #1 Penn State and #8 Michigan to end the dual season.
IRON SHARPENS IRONMEN
The prestigious 29th annual Walsh Jesuit Ironman Tournament concluded on Saturday evening, and previewed high school battles that may be relived a few years later at the biggest stage.
In the premier bout at 165-pounds, Iowa commit Angelo Ferrari defeated Penn State commit Joe Sealey in ultimate tiebreakers. For such a low scoring bout that didn’t include one takedown, it was filled with entertaining action and scrambles that proved both Ferrari and Sealey have the potential to win multiple national titles for their respective programs.
At 126-pounds, another #1 vs #2 bout was showcased between Luke Lilledahl and Jax Forrest. Penn State commit Lilledahl would win the bout 6-0, but Forrest held his own and put Lilledahl in danger multiple times despite not scoring any points.
#1 Bo Bassett dominated his opponents leading up to his finals bout against Omar Ayoub, and did his job to win the match by a 5-1 score. M2 teammate Pierson Manville followed him up with a title of his own, defeating #2 Jack Consiglio 7-2.
UPSET TRACKER
#28 Andrew Cerniglia (NAVY) over #10 Garrett Thompson (OH), 7-5
#25 Sal Perrine (OH) over #24 Danny Wask (NAVY), 4-3
#21 Gaven Sax (NDSU) over #17 Andrew Sparks (MINN), 8-0
Kai Owen (COL) over #7 Cael Happel (UNI), Fall 2:54
Colton Camacho (PITT) over #19 Brendan McCrone (OSU), 14-9
#14 Cole Matthews (PITT) over #3 Jesse Mendez (OSU), 4-2
#20 Reece Heller (PITT) over #12 Gavin Hoffman (OSU) , 12-2
#13 John Poznanski (RUT) over #10 Luke Stout (PRIN), 8-4
WHAT’S NEXT
The National Collegiate Duals happening next weekend will consist of multiple ranked teams competing in pools against one another. The winners of each pools will be set up amongst other pool winners to determine the champion.
Here are the schools in competition:
#2 NC State
#5 Ohio State
#6 Cornell
#7 Iowa State
#19 Pittsburgh
Northern Iowa
Lock Haven
Little Rock