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| Stephen Buchanan Iowa |
Stephen Buchanan heads into this senior season of competition a three time All American with finishes of 8th-3rd-3rd. Posting a 29-3 record last season he won titles at the Michigan State Open, RENO & the Southern Scuffle. He was 3rd in the BIG 12's.
The Rumor mill is now saying that Buchanan is headed to the University of Iowa to compete for the Hawkeyes and spend his final season in the BIG 10. This is a very recent update, which of course will make for a wrestle-off between Buchanan and Glazier....which is now not going to happen because.....
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| Jacob Cardenas Michigan |
8th & 4th thus far in the NCAA, Jacob Cardenas has been 5th-1st-3rd within the EIWA, competing for Cornell. This season he will test out his skills within the BIG 10 as a member of team Michigan. 28 wins on the season last year, he was also 4th at CKLV.
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| Rocky Elam Missouri |
Speaking of rare achievements, Rocky Elam heads into his final season of eligibility with the opportunity to become a five time All American. Thus far he has been 5th-4th-3rd-6th at the NCAA championships. A BIG 12 champion in 2023, he was a runner-up last year.
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| Stephen Little Little Rock |
The name may be Little and he may be wrestling for Little Rock, but his strength and size isn't little and neither are his achievements. A member of a team that is making strides left and right, Stephen Little won a PAC-12 title last season & captured 7th place All American honors at the NCAA championships. Only a freshman last season, could he become the Trojans first four time conference champ? Too early to contemplate such things, but it's exciting to think about.
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| Michael Beard Lehigh |
What a stand out year for Michael Beard of Lehigh last year. Winning titles at the Princeton Open, the Midland and the EIWA, he earned his second All American honor. 7th in 2021, he was 8th last year. Posted a record of 29-4.
Backing Beard up in the lineup will be a tough J.T. Davis, who was most impressive at last year's Midlands, taking 4th.
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| Silas Allred Nebraska |
Arguably the best 197'er yet to All American, Silas Allred has been R12 at the NCAA championships the past two seasons in a row. Twice 5th at CKLV, he was 3rd at the BIG 10's, having won a title in 2023. A Navy Classic runner-up, he posted 26 wins on the season. Perhaps by the end of '24-'25, Allred might be All American.
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| Isaiah Salazar Minnesota |
Isaiah Salazar was a BIG 10 champion & 6th in the NCAA competing at 184 lbs last year. He will test the waters up at 197 this season.
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| Zac Braunagel Illinois |
Fresh off of a redshirt, if Silas Allred isn't the best 197'er yet to All American, then Zac Braunagel is. Himself twice the R12, he has thus far been 4th & 1st at the Midlands championships. Among his many victories, a 7-6 decision over Michael Beard.
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| Jaxon Smith Maryland |
Jaxon Smith has been a leader on the Maryland wrestling team since his freshman season & heads into the '24-'25 season one of the Terrapin's best bets at All American status. A runner-up at CKLV, he's thus far been 3rd and 4th in the BIG 10's.
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| Zach Glazier South Dakota State |
Intermatwrestle and theopenmat both have Iowa ranked #5 heading into the '24-'25 season. Wrestlestat has Iowa ranked #3 & Flo, along with W.I.N., God bless em', have the Hawkeyes ranked #2. Regardless of where Iowa is ranked, they want to finish as high as they possibly can & in order to do that, they're going to have to have some guys step up. Last year Zach Glazier did a very nice job, posting 25 wins on the season, winning a Soldier Salute & placing 2nd at the BIG 10's. This season he'll have to step it up even more & there's no reason to think that he won't. Physically he's always had it, one of the strongest wrestlers in the nation. Mentally he made leaps and bounds last season. He continues to improve in all aspects, he'll be a leader among the Hawkeyes.
UPDATE: When I read that Stephen Buchanan was coming to Iowa, it made me wonder what would become of Zach Glazier. I HATED to think that as much as he's improved and as much potential as he has this year, he'd be riding the bench. Any which way you slice it, that ain't right. I know some bleed black & gold so much that they look at what I'm about to say as "anti-Hawkeye." I'm glad to see Zach Glazier transferring to South Dakota State. The kid deserves to be in a varsity lineup, contending for All American credentials. Matter of fact, knowing Ryan Morningstar on a somewhat decent level, I'd even wager to say that Brands and Co helped to orchestrate the move. They may seem on the surface that all they care about is Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, but they care about the kids on a personal level too. Even though he'll be wearing blue & yellow this year, they're still going to want to see him standing on the award stand come season's end. It's just that they're gonna wanna see him much lower on that stand than Buchanan.
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| John Poznanski Rutgers |
4th in the nation back in 2021, John Poznanski heads into what will be his junior season of competition looking to recapture All American status. He was 7th in the BIG 10 last year, with 18 victories.
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| Andy Smith Or Sonny Sasso Virginia Tech |
Challenging him for the varsity spot this year will be Sonny Sasso, who himself was 5th at the Keystone Classic & 6th at CKLV. He had some standout wins including defeating Nick Stemmet twice (a 2:44 fall & an 8-4 decision) & Levi Hopkins by an 11-3 major decision.
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| Mac Stout Pittsburgh |
23 wins on the season, Mac Stout heads into the '24-'25 year an NCAA qualifier having finished 3rd at last year's ACC championships. He also won the Clarion Open.
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| Wyatt Voelker Northern Iowa |
I've been talking a lot in these weight by weight previews how '24-'25 could very well end up the best year for head coach Doug Schwab yet. I can see sophomore Wyatt Voelker being a reason why. 20 wins on the season, he was a Daktronics champion & 5th in the BIG 12.
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| Joey Novak Wyoming |
Another tough sophomore headed into the '24-'25 season will be Wyoming's Joey Novak. 24 wins on the year, he collected quite a bit of hardware. 8th at CKLV, he was the RENO runner-up & 3rd at teh Soldier Salute. Finished out the year an NCAA qualifier with a 4th place finish at the BIG 12's.
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| Luke Stout Princeton |
Luke Stout heads into his final season of eligibility a three time NCAA qualifier. Winning the Navy Classic last season, he was a runner-up at the Midlands. Among his victories, a 4-1 decision over two time R12'er Silas Allred.
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| Levi Hopkins Campbell |
Levi Hopkins heads into his final season on the collegiate mats a two time SOCON champion, looking to win his third conference title. 27 wins last season, he was runner-up at both the Southeast Open & the Franklin & Marshall Lehman Invitational.
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| Nick Stemmet Stanford |
Another tough "senior" (or whatever the term is we use these days) heading into the '24-'25 season, is three time NCAA qualifier Nick Stemmet. 2nd & 3rd the past two seasons in the PAC-12, he'll look to win his first conference title. He was also 7th in CKLV & 3rd at the Southern Scuffle last year, posting 31 wins overall.
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| Luke Surber Oklahoma State |
Yet another tough wrestler heading into what will be his final season of competition. Luke Surber of Oklahoma State is a three time NCAA qualifier, 6th in the BIG 12 last season & 3rd two seasons ago. He also won what was the final Lindenwood Open last year as well.
Although his record may not make you think so, Kyle Haas is a rather tough backup for Surber and should be recognized as such. He himself made the Southern Scuffle finals last season.
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| Luke Geog Ohio State |
Luke Geog made the NCAA tournament last year as a freshman. With 15 wins on the season, he was 6th in the BIG 10.
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| Justin Rademacher Oregon State |
Another tough freshman from last season, Justin Rademacher had 19 wins on the season. Taking 3rd place showings at the Southeast Open & RENO, he was the PAC-12 runner-up.
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| Evan Bates Northwestern |
Evan Bates was an NCAA qualifier for the Wildcats last season, placing 8th at the BIG 10 championships. He was also the Michigan State Open runner-up.
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| Jack Wehmeyer Columbia |
20 wins on the season, Jack Wehmeyer was an NCAA qualifier for the Lions, posting a 4th place finish at the EIWA championships.
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| Austin Cooley West Virginia |
An NCAA qualifier in 2023, Austin Cooley fell short of another qualification last season. 5th at the Southeast Open, he'll look to reclaim qualification status this year.
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| Martin Cosgrove Pennsylvania |
A backup to four time NCAA qualifier Cole Urbas last season, Martin Cosgrove put up 20 wins on the year. This included a 7-4 decision over Urbas. Cosgrove was also 3rd at the Keystone Classic.
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| Kael Wisler Michigan State |
Kael Wisler put together 26 wins last year as a freshman, and earned himself an 8th place finish at the Midlands.
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| Christian Knop North Carolina State |
Christian Knop has spent his entire career up to this point as a valuable backup for the Wolfpack of North Carolina State. From the looks of it, he will finally get to represent the white & red in the post season & should contend for NCAA qualification.
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| Brad Whitright North Dakota State |
4th in the NJCAA & a West District champion for North Idaho last season, Brad Whitright will compete for the Bison this season.
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| Christian Slack Utah Valley |
Another NJCAA wrestler, Christian Slack who made the West District finals last season & finished one match shy of NJCAA All American honors, will compete for Utah Valley this season.
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| A.J. Ferrari Cal State Bakersfield |
If we thought of wrestling as we think of our planet in relation to space, I'd say the 197 lbs weight class is the Earth & A.J. Ferrari is a Chicxulub asteroid ready to come in and destroy it. Feelings mixed, opinions varied, I choose to look at this from a positive standpoint. Cal State Bakersfield is a small DI school in the state of California, that could use a boost right now. It doesn't have a large budget, making it difficult to compete with those who do in the recruiting race. The state of California on the collegiate level could use some big attention and success. I'm anxious to see how Ferrari fares against the likes of Starocci. He's been out of the game for a while, and it makes one wonder what kind of an effect that may or may not have on his performance. Sure makes things more interesting though.
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