NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2024-25

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 14 Roundup: Iowa's 184lb Question

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 14 Roundup: Iowa's 184lb Question

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 14th week of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Feb 3, 2025 by Andrew Spey
NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 14 Roundup: Iowa's 184lb Question

It's week 14 and we are racing through the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season! This is also the first week we've had with no football to clog up our weekend. I hope you all took advantage of that fact by watching more wrestling!

Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week's Roundup

Friday's dual between Penn State and Iowa hogged many of the headlines this week, and fittingly so, as it was a contest between the nation's #1 and #2 teams. 

Much digital ink was spilled over Iowa head coach Tom Brands' decision to wrestle true freshman Angelo Ferrari against four-time NCAA champ Carter Starocci instead of the Hawkeye's nominal starter, redshirt freshman #5 Gabe Arnold. 

Rumors were floating about Ferrari getting the nod all week long, but the hype for a Starocci vs Arnold showdown was ratcheted up by Arnold's call out of Starocci at the press conference following the Hawkeye's home win over Ohio State January 25th.

All this naturally led to a firestorm of takes from wrestling fans after Angelo toed the line against Carter. However, Coach Brands did speak on the topic immediately following the dual and stated that Arnold is 'gonna be their guy' but that they also wanted to use Ferrari in five varsity events, which is allowed under the recent rule change for redshirt freshmen. Additionally, Coach Brands stated that they did not want to use Ferrari's dates against 'cupcakes', and Starocci is about the furthest you can get from a cupcake.

So what does this tell us about the Hawkeyes and the current state of their locker room? Well, sorry to give the milquetoast answer but 'not much' in my opinion. Angelo is the real deal, as evidenced by the 3-1 score in his loss to Starocci. But so is Gabe, who got similar treatment last year as a true freshman when he got the start against the likes of Dustin Plott, Travis Wittlake and Will Feldkamp. 

Iowa has a good problem on its hands, just as other really good programs do at crowded weights with more contenders than lineup spots. And Coach Brands wants to get his young guys quality matches, which is also what other really good programs do. 

Mostly I think all the hubbub is due to the fact that everything Iowa does gets amplified simply because it's Iowa. Additionally, this particular thing happened against Penn State, which, like Iowa also has a huge fan base. So you're gonna see e a lot of chatter, positive and negative, when things like this happen. 

Ultimatley I think Gabe and Angelo and the rest of the Hawkeyes will be just fine and Iowa will probably leave Philadelphia with another team trophy in March.  

So yeah, it's a big deal because it's a story about three incredible wrestlers at two of the biggest programs in the sport, but also not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. And I appreciate the irony of me leading the Roundup with like eight paragraphs about a story I'm now saying is no big deal. 

The rest of that dual generated some headlines too! Penn State football coach James Franklin was in the audience. Illustrious alum Bo Nickal, now on the road to UFC stardom, was also in the sold-out Bryce Jordan Center, along with about 16,000 other people.

As for the other bouts, there weren't a ton of surprises at the lower weights, especially with Braeden Davis and Ryder Block both getting the day off. 

At 149, Shayne Van Ness rebounded from his loss to Ridge Lovett with a major over Kyle Parco. Then true sophomore Tyler Kasak sent the Nittany Lion faithful into a frenzy when he spoiled Jacori Teemer's return to action with a 4-2 win. This fist pump in particular blew the roof off the BJC.  

The best match of the day for the Hawks came at 197, when Stephen Buchanan successfully defended his #1 ranking when he handed redshirt freshman #4 Josh Barr the first loss of his collegiate career.

If you'd like to read more about this dual, may I direct your attention to this award-winning live blog

Dual of the Century, of the Week

Wolfpack Survive Determined Tar Heels 19-16 In ACC Grudge Match

As has been the case most weeks, there were many quality contenders for the DotCotW, but North Carolina hosting NC State wins the prize. This is a rivalry that is good for the sport, and to see such a competitive dual between these tobacco road foes is a welcome sight. 

Below is the box score:

133: #18 Ethan Oakley (UNC) over #14 Kai Orine (NCST) (SV-1 2-1) 

141: #20 Jayden Scott (UNC) over Tyler Tracy (NCST) (Dec 8-4) 

149: #5 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) over #19 Koy Buesgens (NCST) (MD 11-2) 

157: #14 Ed Scott (NCST) over #32 Sonny Santiago (UNC) (Dec 5-4) 

165: #21 Derek Fields (NCST) over Charlie Darracott (UNC) (Dec 8-6) 

174: #23 Joshua Ogunsanya (UNC) over #19 Matthew Singleton (NCST) (Dec 5-4) 

184: #13 Dylan Fishback (NCST) over #22 Gavin Kane (UNC) (MD 14-5) 

197: Cade Lautt (UNC) over #22 Christian Knop (NCST) (Dec 5-1) 

285: #4 Isaac Trumble (NCST) over Nolan Neves (UNC) (Fall 2:37) 

125: #3 Vincent Robinson (NCST) over #13 Spencer Moore (UNC) (Dec 10-4)

Ethan Oakley started things off well for the home team with his minor upset of Kai Orine. Jayden Scott and Lachlan McNeil kept things rolling for the Tar Heels.

NC State's middleweights clawed back some of that deficit though Josh Ogunsanya kept the Wolfpack fans on edge when he scored an upset over Matty Singleton at 174. Cade Lautt also caused NC State heart palpitations when he notched an upset at 197 to give North Carolina a 16-10 lead going into the final two bouts. 

But the Wolfpack roared back to life thanks to a pin by #4 Issac Trumble at heavyweight. Vince Robinson then slammed the door on the Tar Heels with a 10-4 win over Spencer Moore. 

So nice to see Pat Popolizio and Rob Koll in a spirited rivalry in Carolina's Research Triangle. Good for them, good for the ACC, and good for wrestling. 

Around the Horn

Elsewhere in the ACC...

  • Virginia Tech smashed Virginia in the Commonwealth Clash. Sidenote: I find it odd that the state of Virginia leans so heavily into being a 'commonwealth' when the title carries no legal significance and when three other states also refer to themselves as commonwealths (Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Kentucky are the others, for you trivia nerds). 
    • Anyhow, VT's lightweights looked good, as 125-pounder Eddie Ventresca won by major, Connor McGonagle, who missed all of December, looked solid at 133, and Sam Latona handed Dylan Cedeno the first loss of his season at 141. 
    • UVA's #10 Nick Hamilton beat #24 Mac Church in the Cavs' only win of the day. 
  • Stanford defeated Oregon State 22-16 in ACC v Pac-12 action. Ethan Stiles majored #8 Jaden Abas at 149 to help position the Beavers for an upset, however, #27 Peter Ming of Stanford majored #20 Brett Mower to dash those hopes and put the Cardinal over the top for good. 

Bouncing back to the Big 12...

  • Oklahoma State had another huge crowd in historic Gallagher-Iba Arena as they massacred Missouri 36-3.
    • Missouri only had three ranked wrestlers in their lineup (although Jarrett Stoner is rankable, Flo just has Seth Nitzel in the rankings at 285 for the Tigers for now as the postseason starter appears TBD), as injuries have been unkind to Mizzou. Noah Surtin had to retire due to injuries, Rocky Elam is going to miss the rest of the year, and Keegan O'Toole and Colton Hawks are out though both hope to return for the postseason. 
    • Blue-chip recruit and true freshman Aeoden Sinclair wrestled for the fifth time as an attached Tiger, down at 184 for the first time this season. He lost to #3 Dustin Plott by major but he showed flashes of excellence in the 18-7 loss. 
    • It was senior night for the Cowboys, as this is the last home dual of the season in Stillwater. All seven seniors that wrestled, Dustin Plott, Luke Surber, Cam Amine, Caleb Fish, DJ Hamiti, Reece Witcraft, and Wyatt Hendrickson won their bouts. Good ride, cowboys. 
    • Once again, the crowd was nice. 
  • Northern Colorado defeated Arizona State 21-17.
    • No Stevo Poulin so we didn't get to see that bout vs Richie Figueroa at 125. 
    • The Bears' #17 Dom Serrano, #2 Andrew Alirez, and #15 Vinny Zerban all took care of business with wins, though Arizona State did get an upset at 184 when Shay Addison beat #25 AJ Heeg. 
  • Headlock master Tim Flynnand the Mountaineers faced off with UNI on Saturday but unfortunately, all the headlocks in the world couldn't slow down the Panther train, which steamrolled to a 29-10 victory. 
    • Peyton Hall impressed at 165 with a 15-2 major over #18 Jack Thomsen, #10 Jett Strickenberger beat #22 Trever Anderson at 125, and #30 Brody Conley upset #16 Jared Simma at 174, but that was it for WVU in the win column. 
    • Parker Keckeisen continues to wrestle like he's from another planet as he teched #19 Dennis Robin. The rest of UNI's ranked wrestlers also returned to Cedar Falls, Iowa with wins. 
  • The Dakotas hosted a lot of D1 wrestling this weekend. South Dakota State and North Dakota State both hosted Utah Valley and Wyoming (but not at the same time). 
    • SDSU picked up two wins, while NDSU was defeated twice. 

Returning to the MAC...

  • Lock Haven narrowly buzzed Bucknell 17-15. 
    • Bucknell's #31 Kurt Phipps knocked off #16 Anthony Noto at 133 and four other Bison picked up wins to put the pressure on the Bald Eagles.
    • However, #17 Gavin Hoffman secured victory for Lock Haven with his 8-1 decision at heavyweight.
  • Bloomsburg picked up their first win of the season when they defeated Sacred Heart 23-17.
  • The hopefully not doomed Cleveland State fell to Northern Illinois 29-14. 
    • The Vikings' lone ranked wrestler, #31 Daniel Bucknavich, pinned his opponent and will hopefully represent CSU in Philadelphia.
  • Ohio squeaked by Central Michigan 18-16.
    • #11 Garrett Thompson was the hero for the Bobcats when he upset #8 Alex Cramer at 174.
    • #21 Jordan Greer iced the dual for Ohio at heavyweight with a decision.
  • SIUE tackled two California schools in one weekend, losing to Cal Poly but defeating Cal Baptist.
  • The Rider Broncs notched two wins, over MAC rival George Mason and SoCon stalwart Campbell. 

Erstwhile in the EIWA...

  • Navy handed Bucknell a 27-9 bludgeoning thanks to wins by Josh Koderhandt, Dylan Elmore, Danny Wask and Dillon Bechtold, all over ranked Bison. Navy really was a bad matchup for Bucknell. 
  • Drexel defeated intra-conference foe American but fell to extra-conference foe Princeton. 
  • Lehigh picked up two conference wins, one also over American and another over Army 24-10. Like Navy over Bucknell, Lehigh was a tough matchup for Army as four ranked Black Knights lost to Mountain Hawks. 
  • LIU picked up their fourth dual win of the season over Franklin & Marshall. Not bad for a school that was Division II five years ago. 

The Bodacious Big Ten...

  • Nebraska hammered Wisconsin 35-7. 
    • The Badger's brightest spot came at 133 when #30 Zan Fugitt upset #12 Jacon Van Dee 11-1. 
    • Lenny Pinto hit the move of the weekend with a jonesy tilt for seven points at 174. 
  • Indiana flexed some muscles with a 25-13 win over Northwestern. 
    • Ranked Hoosiers Jacon Moran, Angelo Rini, Hanry Porter, Derek Gilcher and Jacob Bullock all notched victories. 
    • #19 Maxx Mayfield secured an upset at 165 for the Wildcats with a win over #16 Tyler Lillard. 
  • Minnesota throttled Rutgers 28-9.
    • The Gophers showed why they will be a force at Nationals with performances like #4 Max McEnelly's major over #17 Shane Cartegan-Walsh, #8 Vince Vombaur's 12-5 win over #15 Joey Olivieri, and #1 Gable Steveson's pin of #8 Yaraslau Slavikouski. 
    • Rutgers' #9 Dylan Shawver beat #13 Tyler Wells, getting revenge from a dual meet loss last season. 
    • Scarlet Knight true freshman Connor Harer also impressed in a 1-0 loss to #9 Tommy Askey. 
  • Ohio State beat arch-rival Michigan 25-14. 
    • There were no upsets until the last match, where Michigan's #11 Josh Heindselman beat #7 Nick Feldman. 
  • Illinois trounced Purdue 35 to 8. There were no upsets in this dual. 
  • Iowa rebounded from their punishing loss to Penn State with a 34-9 blitz of Maryland. 
    • Gabe Arnold got the start this time, and he beat #10 Jaxon Smith in tiebreaker rideouts. 
    • #10 Ben Kueter also picked up another ranked win with a 5-4 victory over #12 Seth Nevills. 

Liddle Lamzy D'Ivy...

  • Cornell took on fellow upstaters Binghamton and emerged victorious to the tune of 29-9. 
    • Bearcat Ivan Garcia recorded an upset at 149 over #17 Ethan Fernandez, though every other ranked Cornellian won. 
    • Cornell also blanked their urban New York cousins Columbia 40-0. 
  • UPenn won two duals, a shutout over Harvard and a 37-6 win over Brown. 
  • Princeton also shut out Harvard (rough weekend for the Crimson) and beat both Drexel and Brown as well. 

SoCan we discuss the SoCon now?

  • Yes, of course! VMI edged out Gardner Webb 22 to 20.
    • #29 Todd Carter of G-WU picked up a major decision but the key victory came from the Keydet Toby Schoffstall at 197 with a pin. 
  • Appalachian State stymied the tenacious Knights of Bellarmine 23-19. 
    • #29 AJ Rallo of Bellarmine and #7 Will Miller of App State both added victories to their season ledgers. 
    • Bellarmine rebounded to defeat VMI later in the week, 31-9. 
    • App State also shut out Presbyterian 42-0 in a Monday tilt to kick off this week's D1 action.
  • The Citadel admonished the Mocs of Chattanooga 19-18. 
    • One of the more thrilling under-the-radar duals of the weekend saw herculean performances from the Citadel's #28 Patrick Brophy at 197 and Adam Ortega at 285. Their victories, by tech and major respectively, secured the comeback win for the Bulldogs. 
    • Chattanooga did get wins from their two nationally ranked wrestlers, #20 Blake Boarman and #22 Sergio Desiante, at 133 and 174. 

How dare you almost end this roundup without discussing the Pac-12!

  • My bad! Oregon State split duals this weekend, losing to the aforementioned Stanford Cardinal before mustering a win over CSU-Bakersfield in the last dual chronologically of the week.
    • Neither AJ Ferrari nor Try Munoz wrestled at 197.  

Heavy Metal Matness

It's everyone's favorite recurring bit where I compare a college wrestling team to a heavy metal band! 

This week I will compare Rage Against the Machine to the NC State Wolfpack.

I was wholly unprepared for RAtM when I first saw their video for 'Freedom' on MTV in the early 90s. This band, with Zach de la Rocha's caustic rapping, Tom Morello's visionary innovations on guitar, and the thunderous rhythm section consisting of Brad Wilk on drums and Tim Commerford on bass, completely shattered my tiny febrile mind. 

This band was so drilled into my brain that I remember carrying a CD of Evil Empire around with me during my freshman year of high school to listen to in between classes. 

NC State wrestling did not have quite the impact on me as Rage Against the Machine, but it is still a program I hold in comparably high esteem. Pat Popolizio and company have created a juggernaut in a state not known for being steeped in wrestling culture. But through grit, determination and creativity, he has led the Wolfpack to NCAA prominence, winning an NCAA team trophy and ACC championships as well as coaching dozens of All-Americans and two NCAA champs (Nick Gwizdowski and Mike Macchiavello). Much in the same way that RAtM managed to promote an extremely political funk-metal band into the mainstream.  

NC State wrestling and Rage Against the Machine both kick ass in my opinion. 

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