College wrestling is back, and with the start of the season inevitably comes fun new faces, exciting storylines and early dominance from some of the best teams in the country. Here’s what we learned after Week 1 and who made early, impressive statements in their 2023-2024 debut.
N.C. State, Stanford, Iowa, Rutgers, NIU start strong with DI shutout wins
Five men's programs earned at least one DI shutout win this weekend, with the Wolfpack of NC State earning the first of those notable victories with a 48-0 performance against Presbyterian on the opening day of the season. Redshirt freshman Dylan Fishback and Chase Horne led the Pack in this bout with first period falls, while Jacob Cox, Jackson Arrington, AJ Kovacs and Christian Knop added big points to the team score with techs at 133, 149, 165 and 197 pounds.
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Fishback and Arrington picked up their second bonus point wins of the weekend against App State as well, notching a fall and a tech fall respectively as part of the Pack’s 40-3 win over the Mountaineers, the team’s largest margin of victory this century. Jakob Camacho and Trent Hidlay also contributed tech falls in N.C. State’s dual against App State, while heavyweight Owen Trephan notched a fall. App State’s lone win came at 133 pounds when Ethan Oakley stopped Jarrett Trombley 4-2. Neither Oakley nor Trombley was ranked coming into this bout, though both have previously qualified for the NCAA tournament, with Trombley advancing as far as the Round of 16 in 2023 and 2021. N.C. State will travel to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania next weekend for “WrangleMania” where they will take on Bloomsburg and Purdue in duals the Pack will be expected to win with dominance, especially after this weekend’s performance.
Setting the standard. Dylan Fishback goes ✌️ for ✌️ on pins this season at 184 over App State's Tomas Brooker.
— NC State Wrestling 🤼♂️ (@PackWrestle) November 3, 2023
NCST - 20
APP ST - 0#PackMentality pic.twitter.com/KYICY71Mey
N.C. State’s schedule will not include a ranked opponent next weekend, but Rutgers, another team that notched a DI shutout win, will run into No. 5 Virginia Tech next on November 17. The Scarlet Knights will have some serious momentum on their side though when they welcome the Hokies to Jersey. Rutgers went 2-0 against Duke and Cal Poly, topping the Blue Devils 47-0 behind falls from Dean Peterson, Dylan Shawver and Brian Soldano and overpowering the Mustangs 31-10 in a dual where Mitch Moore, Anthony White, Soldano, Poznanski and Yaraslau Slavikouski all recorded bonus points.
Cal Poly, meanwhile did manage to earn a win of its own earlier in the weekend when they too outscored the Blue Devils, winning nine of ten matches as part of that contest headlined by a fall from Legend Lamer at 157 pounds. Duke struggled overall on opening weekend, as the Blue Devils also lost to Stanford, failing to win any of the ten bouts in that dual. Stanford looked tough in its first dual of the Chris Ayres era, with Daniel Cardenas and Nick Stemmet leading the Cardinal with tech falls alongside teammates Tyler Knox, Jason Miranda and Lorenzo Norman.
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NIU and Iowa rounded out the teams with shutout wins on the weekend, with the Huskies earning two wins against Lindenwood and St. Ambrose 48-0 and 47-0, and Iowa stopping California Baptist 40-0. Blake West, Tommy Curran, Matt Zuber and Carter Grewe all went 2-0 on the weekend for NIU as individuals, earning bonus points in all of their matches. The Huskies have two open tournaments on the schedule — the Michigan State Open and the Lindenwood Open — before they take on Purdue in a high-profile MAC vs. Big Ten dual on November 19.
The biggest storyline from the Iowa men's dual, on the other hand, was, without a doubt, the new fresh-faced starters, as Victor Voinovich, Jared Franek, Mike Caliendo all made their varsity debuts for the Black and Gold in their bout against Cal Poly. Caliendo and 2023 NCAA finalist Real Woods put up the most impressive performances for the Hawks by recording techs in their matches against the Lancers. Iowa’s schedule only gets tougher, as the Hawks take on the No. 20 Beavers of Oregon State on November 19 before gearing up for what could be a wild Cy-Hawk dual on November 26.
"Came out ready to wrestle."
— Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling (@Hawks_Wrestling) November 5, 2023
Hear from the team after last nights win 🗣️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/OLn8cBLGEo
Speaking of Iowa, the women's wrestling team made some serious noise in its first dual as a varsity program. The Hawks took down East Stroudsburg 43-1, winning all ten duals by fall or tech fall. Alivia White picked up the fastest pin, putting her opponent, Ariel Ofri-Akman, on her back in just 17 seconds. Iowa will compete in the Trailblazer Duals next against Presbyterian, Lindenwood and Sacred Heart on Nov. 12.
Upset wins help young stars make their mark
While a number of notable teams notched big wins, several individual stars also stood out as well, led by unranked Gabe Whisenhunt of Oregon State. Whisenhunt took the mat for seven matches in three days for the Beavers, winning six of them, including a barn-burner 10-9 decision against two-time Virginia Tech All-American Sam Latona. The young Oregon State starter began his weekend tough, as he took an opening loss to Caden McCrary of North Carolina 2-0 in Oregon’s team win over the Tar Heels. Whisenhunt, though, bounced back with intention, pinning Griffen Gonzales of Queens, earning a forfeit win against Greensboro and then going on a tear at the Southeast Open to win the tournament at 133 pounds. He’ll likely have Iowa’s Brody Teske next, and this match against the Hawkeye Round of 12 wrestler will be a good test for the redshirt freshman Beaver.
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Oregon State, as a team, looked elite all weekend though, beating Carolina, shutting out Queens 58-0 and topping Greensboro College 55-0. This is a program making big strides, and Whisenhunt is just the latest product of the progress in Corvallis.
Whisenhunt, though, wasn’t the only wrestler to pick an upset win over an All-American. North Carolina sophomore Spencer Moore notched a solid 2-0 win against Whisenhunt’s teammate Brandon Kaylor, and West Virginia lightweight Jett Strickenberger also topped Kaylor 4-1 in sudden victory. Redshirt freshman phenom and All-American prospect Nic Bouzakis also took two losses on the weekend, one to Vincent Santaniello of Pittsburgh 11-4 and another to Angelo Rini of Columbia 14-8. Peyton Hall, a 2022 All-American, additionally dropped a bout to Garrett Thompson of Ohio 8-5.
Back at it 🗣️#GoHeels | #TogetherWeWin pic.twitter.com/uYuOyqT25H
— UNC Wrestling (@UNCWrestling) November 3, 2023
These early season upsets, while exciting for the victor, do not necessarily spell trouble for the athlete taking the loss. Statistics show that top wrestlers, particularly those competing for national titles, who take early season losses, have a track record of rebounding in time for the national tournament.
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Ohio State’s Bouzakis, specifically, doesn’t have to look far to see an example of this, as his own teammate Sammy Sasso took an upset loss in the Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech dual last year to Caleb Henson before roaring back to finish second at the NCAAs. Rankings can be chaotic in the early part of the season, creating great intrigue for fans, but athletes have a long season to find their groove.
Navy, Air Force pick up wins, Army drops to Campbell
Three of the nation’s military academies were also in action with Navy, Air Force and Army all taking on non-conference foes, but just the Midshipmen and the Falcons earned the victories. Navy, most notably, topped No. 24 Illinois to start their season 1-0 and pick up an early ranked W. The Mids were led by Brendan Ferretti, David Key and Andrew Cerniglia who earned a pin, a pin and a tech fall respectively in their matches while Josh Koderhandt and Cael Crebs also notched decision wins to push Navy over the Illini 23-18. Navy went 5-6 last year, but the Cary Kolat effect appears to be in full force as the fourth-year head coach heads into the Navy Quad Meet against Morgan State, VMI and Pitt looking to keep the undefeated season rolling. The weekend did have a bright spot for the Illini as well, despite the loss, as Illinois notched a 28-7 win over SIUE Edwardsville headlined by a second-period pin from Danny Pucino.
B1G W from the team to start off the season!#GoNavy⚓️ x #WinTheBattle pic.twitter.com/zl6FsNwyhm
— Navy Wrestling (@NavyWrestling) November 6, 2023
Army, meanwhile, started the season in the opposite manner, dropping to Campbell in a highly-anticipated battle at Fort Liberty. The Black Knights notched victories at 125 pounds, 149 pounds and 165 pounds, but Campbell’s depth, combined with a major decision from Caleb Hopkins and a pin by Taye Ghadiali, sealed the deal, 25-9. The schedule just gets tougher for the Camels though, as they’ll face Nebraska next, a team ranked No. 9 in the country and a program that dominated North Dakota State 31-12 after dropping to the Bison the year before. Nebraska All-Americans Peyton Robb and Ridge Lovett headline this Husker team, but Silas Allred, Lenny Pinto and Antrell Taylor also showed that they’re here to put up big points for the Big Red.
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A 2-0 performance for Air Force against Western Colorado and Colorado State-Pueblo by scores of 27-13 and 35-3 respectively wrapped up action for the service academies this week. Air Force will compete in tournaments, including the Mountaineer Invitational and the Navy Classic before traveling to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational where the Falcons could meet some of the best DI competition from around the country. In the meantime, Air Force will have representation at the 2023 NWCA All-Star Classic as 2023 All-American and U23 World Champion Wyatt Hendrickson is set to wrestle 2023 NCAA finalist Greg Kerkvliet on November 21.
