What a great week of collegiate wrestling! So many great tournaments and duals, it's overwhelming how much great wrestling happens in a matter of a single solitary week. Plenty of tournaments that I'll get to in other posts, but man what a lot of great action from the dual perspective! Let's take a look at some of it.
 |
| Argos Rely on Two Upsets & A Pin For #9 Providence To Take Out #7 Montana State Northern in NAIA Action |
We had a great dual this past week between two NAIA powerhouse teams out in Big Sky country. Unranked Jalen Vladic, a three time Montana High School State finalist stole the show with an impressive 3-1 decision over 2022 NAIA national finalist Martin Wilkie. The Lights fired back with an upset of their own, as #8 Devin Crawford then took out #5 Bridger Hall &Nakoda Siegel showed us why he's ranked #2, with a 7-3 decision over #11 Jordan Komac. The Argos took the dual though, when #24 Alan Badley upset #15 Rylin Burns & #9 Sawyer Hobbs scored a huge fall over #11 Carl Hanson.
 |
| King Freshman Takes Out The #2 in NCAA DII |
In 138 victories in high school, Ashtan Hendricks won 102 of them via fall. His collegiate career may very well end up reflecting his high school career, as the young Tornado stuck #2 two time NCAA DII All American John Carayiannis of Belmont Abbey at the 4:48 mark.
 |
| Weight Cut Proves To Be So Far So Good For Walker |
Mercyhurst's Dillon Walker finished 5th in the DII nation last season at 174 lbs. Making the cut down to 165, he started off the season ranked #6. This past week he throttled Alec Cook of West Liberty who finished 5th in the DII nation last season 15-3. Huge win for the Laker.
 |
| Can You Say "Underrated?" |
The Ohio State Buckeyes showed the wrestling world exactly why they should have been ranked much higher than what they were. Regardless of which publications rankings you used, intermat, openmat, Flo, or one of the 10,000 others we have floating around, nearly everyone had Virginia Tech ranked ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes relied on some big "upsets" and taking charge in the tossups to overcome the Hokies. Brendan McCrone's 11-3 major decision over Eddie Ventresca left me eating crow, as I could not believe how the young Buckeye just took it to the All American. I take nothing away from McCrone's outstanding performance, but it didn't escape me that Ventresca then got manhandled again 9-0 against Jack Maida of American later on. When an All American loses twice like that, swing it anyway you care to, something ain't right.
Isaac Wilcox then scored a very important victory over Connor Brady, as Ryder Rogotzke scored a huge 5:35 fall over Sam Fisher. Luke Geog with an 11-7 victory over Andy Smith, Nick Feldman overcame a tough Hunter Catka 3-2. Buckeyes showed up to wrestle and as a result took a victory over a very good team.
 |
| Buesgens Proves To Be One Hell Of A Backup |
Ryan Jack may very well be the starter for North Carolina State, but Koy Buesgens has more than proven this week that the Wolfpack ain't hurting any for depth at 141 lbs. He just took it to Josh Mason of Bloomsburg, scoring a 17-6 major decision over the two time MAC runner-up.
 |
| Negron Steps It Up A Notch |
Consistency has been an issue for Arizona State's Tony Negron in the past. The senior Sun Devil has struggled the past couple of seasons, going 6-5 in '21-'22 and finishing with a disappointing 10-14 record last year. Scoring a 7-4 decision over Gavin Kane of North Carolina, who was 8th in the DI nation last season was huge. Hopefully we'll see more results like this out of Negron this year.
*On a Side Note I noticed that teammate Jacori Teemer was injured in the dual Vs Lock Haven. Hope it is nothing serious and we see him back 100% healthy soon.
 |
| Kolat Coached |
Cary Kolat's phenomenal coaching was on full display this week as his Midshipmen took on the Panthers of Pittsburgh. Three of his wrestlers won huge matches that they were not predicted to win on paper. Josh Koderhandt pulled off an extremely impressive 5-3 victory over All American Cole Matthews at 141 lbs. The Illinois native has been looking for a high caliber win to put him into that All American conversation, and my friends, this was that win. Teammate David Key, also a fence rider, got himself on the greener grass side with a very impressive victory of his own. A first period, 2:47 fall over Reece Heller. Grady Griess then took out David Pitzer, a wrestler many have been very hot on all preseason 4-2.
 |
| Gaetano Consolo With Huge Pin as Duke Wins Two Duals |
Things have finally started to look up a little after being down for so long for the Duke Blue Devils. 11 dual losses in a row, Duke managed to score wins over both Kent State & Cleveland State. Although they would then drop a dual to West Virginia, Gaetano Consolo still gave reason to celebrate as he stuck All American Peyton Hall at 1:19 in to the first period.
 |
| Great Week For Army Freshman |
In the first week of collegiate wrestling, Braden Basile of Army dropped a hard fought 12-10 match to Domenic Zaccone of Campbell. He fired back strong this week, with two impressive wins. A 6:10 fall over Dustin Norris of Purdue & a 10-6 decision over Gable Strickland of Lock Haven. You know I love seeing southern guys do well & it was two great wins for the Tampa, Florida native.
No comments:
Post a Comment