Week nine of the 2023-2024 NCAA Wrestling season consisted of a slew of exhilarating dual meets to remind us fans why dual’s are so fun and enjoyable.
There were multiple big upsets that will for sure shake up the top-10 team rankings going into the future, and has given hope to other squads outside the Big 10 that they can continue to beat some of the premier destinations for the best wrestling and recruiting programs.
However, the issue with the excitement of dual meets and the energy it brings is that there is not enough of them. Every year people continue to beg for a National Dual Meet Championship.
If the NCAA were to implement a dual meet bracket for a separate national title, it would take a lot of work for the scheduling and realignment of teams. If they could find a way, it would only bring more people to the sport of wrestling as it is much easier to televise and we would see a lot more exciting matchups between teams. It would almost eradicate the need to sit wrestlers solely on the fact that “it’s not worth it”.
Anyways, here is a recap of everything that happened in This Week In Wrestling:
#15 JACKRABBITS TRIUMPH OVER #6 WOLVERINES
In their first ever meeting between the two schools, South Dakota State defeated #6 Michigan in a narrow 22-17 decision in Sanford Pentagon on Thursday night.
This is the first top-10 ranked win for the Jackrabbits in over two years, dating back to the 2021-2022 season where SDSU defeated #9 Missouri 22-12.
Although Michigan did not have every starter in the lineup, South Dakota State pulled off big wins where they had to and got much needed bonus points from their top dogs. #15 Derrick Cardinal got a late third period pin, and returning NCAA Finalist #5 Tanner Sloan notched a tech fall shortly into the second period to clinch the dual victory for the Jackrabbits.
In other news, #7 Austin Gomez made his debut in a Michigan Wolverine singlet and defeated #18 Alek Martin in a 10-4 decision. After spending multiple seasons at both Wisconsin and Iowa State, Gomez will look to push to an NCAA title in his final season with the Wolverines at 149-pounds.
#5 Shane Griffith got back in the win column with a big upset over #3 Cade DeVos, scoring the winning takedown in sudden victory to win the bout 4-1. The former NCAA Champion looks to do the same as Gomez, using their final season at a new school to finish on top of the podium in Maize and Blue.
#9 COWBOYS PUMMEL #4 WOLFPACK
For the first time in school history, the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina was sold out for a meeting with #4 NC State and #9 Oklahoma State on Friday night.
Despite the home-crowd advantage, John Smith and the #9 Cowboys went to work and earned a big 22-12 victory over the #4 ranked NC State squad. There were seven bouts with both wrestlers ranked in the top-25, and Oklahoma State would win five of them en route to an upset win.
In one of the more anticipated bouts of the night between #3 Daton Fix and #5 Kai Orine lived up to expectations, yet disappointed Reynolds Coliseum as Fix cruised to a 7-3 win.
Also going into the Cowboys favor was a big upset win for #24 Teague Travis, who battled tough and got the win over #5 ranked Ed Scott to drastically swing the momentum in Oklahoma State’s bench.
NC State has now lost back to back dual meets against Ohio State and now Oklahoma State, bringing their record to 10-2 this season. The Wolfpack will have a few ACC matchups ahead to get back on track.
For an Oklahoma State team that has exceeded expectations, they’ll travel to both Pitt and West Virginia this upcoming weekend and look to improve to 7-0 on the year.
FELDMAN FUELS BUCKEYES
In one of the better dual meets of the season, #8 Ohio State defeated #10 Cornell 21-20 in a last second effort to improve to 8-1 on the year.
Down by two points with just the final bout remaining, Buckeyes’ #18 Nick Feldman secured a match-winning takedown with just seconds remaining to defeat the Big Red’s #19 Lewis Fernandes to clinch the dual meet victory for Ohio State.
The dual went back and forth the entire duration, as Ohio State jumped out to an early lead thanks to Nic Bouzakis and Jesse Mendes earning bonus points at 133 and 141-pounds. However Cornell answered with big bonuses from Meyer Shapiro and then a fall from Chris Foca to tighten the score.
One of the biggest swing matches of the dual came at 174-pounds, in a battle between Ohio State’s Rocco Welsh and Cornell’s Benny Baker. Welsh was able to secure a tech fall for Ohio State, and got two huge bonus points that would eventually be the difference maker.
Tom Ryan and Ohio State will finish their dual season against eight consecutive Big 10 opponents, including #6 Michigan and #1 Penn State. They will host Michigan at the end of the month on the 26th, and then travel to Rec Hall a week later to face off against the #1 Nittany Lions.
NITTANY LIONS ANNIHILATE
#1 Penn State continues to prove why they are one of the best teams we have ever seen, as they nearly sweep #17 Oregon State 36-3 on the road.
The only loss for Penn State came at 184-pounds, where Oregon State’s #5 Trey Munoz upset #2 Bernie Truax in a 5-2 decision.
Outside of their only loss, Penn State looked terrifying and that is putting it lightly. Sanderson’s younger talent continues to shine and have seemed to jump to the next level just months into the season.
A prime example of that is Mitchell Mesenbrink, who wasn’t even guaranteed to make the lineup at the beginning of the season. Mesenbrink has found his stride, and dominated #11 Matthew Olguin in a 21-0 tech fall that took place just seconds into the second period.
Another up-and-comer is at 125-pounds for the Nittany Lions, which has not been said in quite some time. However, Braeden Davis seems to be the answer as he defeated #15 Brandon Kaylor 11-6. Davis can compete in one more dual meet before having to forgo his redshirt, yet it could be a good decision as he looks like the man to beat.
The big three for Penn State continued to be as dominant as usual, as Starocci, Brooks, and Kerkvliet all recorded tech falls for the Nittany Lions.
WHAT’S NEXT
Notable Duals:
#2 Missouri vs. #18 Stanford – 1/10
#3 Iowa vs. #7 Nebraska – 1/12
#9 Oklahoma State vs. #13 Pitt – 1/12
#8 Ohio State vs. Illinois – 1/12
#14 Rutgers vs. #22 Indiana – 1/12
#6 Michigan vs. #25 Maryland – 1/12
#19 Oklahoma vs. Wisconsin – 1/13
#1 Penn State vs. #22 Indiana – 1/14
#9 Oklahoma State vs. #20 West Virginia – 1/14
#5 Iowa State vs. #13 Pitt – 1/14
#14 Rutgers vs. Purdue – 1/14
#6 Michigan vs. Michigan State – 1/14
