Dec 9, 11:00 PM UTC

Coolidge Jamboree

Dec 10, TBD

Abington Friends School, PA @ Academy of

Dec 10, TBD

Coolidge Duals

Today · 8:30 PM UTC

Academy - Palumbo, PA @ Mariana Bracetti

Dec 10, TBD

Episcopal Academy, PA @ Westtown School,

Today · 11:00 PM UTC

Liberty (Wentzville), MO @ Francis Howel

Tomorrow · 12:00 AM UTC

Tonganoxie HS, KS @ St. Pius X (Kansas C

Tomorrow · 12:00 AM UTC

West Allegheny Hs, PA @ Connellsville Ar

Dec 11, TBD

Kittatinny Regional Jr/Sr, NJ @ Caldwell

Dec 11, TBD

Littlerock, CA @ Highland (Palmdale), C

Tomorrow · 12:00 AM UTC

Cocalico Hs, PA @ Manheim Central Hs, PA

Tomorrow · 3:00 AM UTC

Gonzaga Prep, WA @ Mead, WA

Dec 11, TBD

Bonner Springs HS, KS @ Manhattan HS, KS

Dec 12, 12:00 AM UTC

Fruita Monument, CO @ Riverton, UT

Dec 12, TBD

Springville, UT @ Maple Mountain, UT

NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2024-25

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 16 Roundup: Is It State or States?

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 16 Roundup: Is It State or States?

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 16th week of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Feb 17, 2025 by Andrew Spey
NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 16 Roundup: Is It State or States?

Welcome to the recap of the penultimate regular season week of collegiate wrestling, in which we will settle the age-old wrestling debate of what to call the end-of-the-year high school championships: 'state' or 'states''?

Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week's Roundup

As winter gives way to spring we approach the end of the road for so many teenage wrestlers. Around this time, high school gyms and arenas are full up with postseason tournaments. In some parts of the country, this process ends with high schoolers winning 'state'. In other parts, they say they won 'states'.

That minor difference of one letter is still capable of igniting a firestorm in the social media comment sections of the wrestling community. 

Which is the correct way to say it? Keep reading and I will tell you. But first, a thorough recap of all the noteworthy happenings of the 2024-25 NCAA D1 wrestling season!

The Dual of the Century of the Week

Panthers Shellack Cyclones In McLeod Center Roof-Ripper, 26-10

They've been the DotCotW before, but there's also no denying the most electric environment of the week was inside the the McLeod Center. And we love nothing more than electrified crowds. 

Northern Iowa is the rightfully ranked #4 program in the nation. They have a deep roster with 10 All-American contenders and a bona fide superstar in returning 184lb NCAA champ Parker Keckeisen. 

Iowa State has had trouble with injuries this season and was the underdog going into the contest, but they are still a power program and a trophy-winning team from last year's NCAA Championships. 

As you can see from the final score, it wasn't the most dramatic dual, however, it still provided the sold out crowd plenty to cheer for. I mean look at this arena. This is a DotCotW-winning crowd for sure. 

Always nice when a school's AD notices stuff like this. 

Below is the box score.

133: #5 Evan Frost (ISU) over #22 Julian Farber (UNI) (MD 8-0) 

141: #5 Cael Happel (UNI) over #9 Jacob Frost (ISU) (Dec 10-7) 

149: #10 Colin Realbuto (UNI) over #6 Paniro Johnson (ISU) (SV-1 10-7) 

157: #10 Cody Chittum (ISU) over #5 Ryder Downey (UNI) (Dec 4-2) 

165: #19 Jack Thomsen (UNI) over Aiden Riggins (ISU) (Dec 7-3) 

174: #17 Jared Simma (UNI) over #25 MJ Gaitan (ISU) (Dec 7-4) 

184: #2 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) over Caleb Helgeson (ISU) (TF 24-8 4:26) 

197: #11 Wyatt Voelker (UNI) over #14 Evan Bockman (ISU) (Dec 7-2) 

285: #30 Daniel Herrera (ISU) over #14 Lance Runyon (UNI) (Dec 3-1) 

125: Kyle Gollhofer (UNI) over Osmany Diversent (ISU) (Fall 6:02)

149 really set the tone for the Panthers, as Realbuto pushed Johnson to the brink, earned a stall call to force over-time, then got the go-ahead win to literally tear the roof off of the McLeod Center, figuratively speaking. It was one of several roof-ripping moments in this dual. 

The Cyclones still had life after Cody Chittum notched a solid upset win over #5 Downey, but the Panthers pulled away after that. 

Senior talisman and future UNI legend Parker Keckeisen finished his career undefeated in Cedar Falls, garnering a well-deserved standing ovation after his final hand-raise on his home campus. 

Lastly, the roof was ripped off one more time when Kyle Gollhofer capped off the event with a third-period pin. 

Perhaps they can install a retractable roof on McLeod, lest it suffer any more rippings-off next wrestling season. 

You can have a ripping good time by watching a replay of the supremely entertaining dual here or by reading our award-winning match notes here. 

America's Dual

Army Sings Second With 22-10 Victory Over Navy

Army earned the wrestling Star with an intense 7-3 split over Navy in their annual troop vs troop contest. 

Navy did win two of the three ranked matchups of the night. #7 Josh Koderhandt beat #26 Richard Treanor at 141 and #14 Danny Wask defeated #29 Dalton Harkins at 174, but the Black Knights took the third at 197 when #29 Wolfgang Frable vanquished #32 Payton Thomas, which was more than enough to give the Black Knights the team win.

It was a special evening that deserves special mention, as two of the most prestigious and respected institutions in America went head-to-head in the world's oldest and greatest sport. The vibes were immaculate, the atmosphere was majestic, and the commentary was inspired. Seriously go listen to the replay of the dual here. Nikolai Busko was on the call and he had me cracking up.

And, as per tradition, the win earned Army the right to sing after Navy. 

Other Things Happened

Big Ten Banter

  • Penn State had one of their toughest tests of the season against Ohio State, though they still won 27-13. 
    • Things got off to a rough start for the Nittany Lions at 125 where #17 Brendan McCrone pinned #8 Luke Lilledahl with a cradle. Lilledahl was leading after the first period and chose down, only for McCrone to make him pay with a match-ender from top. 
    • The next three bouts were all nail-biters but all ultimately won by Penn State, including Beau Bartlett's first win over Jesse Mendez since last year's dual meet. Mendez beat Bartlett in the next three meetings (Big Tens, NCAAs, and the 2024 All-Star Classic). This match was 4-2 in Bartlett's favor, whereas every previous meeting ended 4-1. 
    • Ohio State's Brandon Cannon then majored true freshman Joe Sealey, who was filling in for Tyler Kasak who injury defaulted last week. 
      • Wouldas, couldas, and shouldas don't go in the record books but it is interesting to note that Ohio State had the potential to be up 19-0 at the halfway mark.
    • Penn State was also without the services of 2024 NCAA champ Greg Kerkvliet at heavyweight, but it didn't matter as Mesenbrink, Haines, Starocci, and Barr all showed why they are ranked either 1st or 2nd by picking up wins, though #5 Carson Kharchla was leading late in the third before Haines got the go-ahead takedown to salvage the win. 
    • Buckeye Nick Feldman beat Cole Mirasola to give the sold-out Covelli Center something to cheer about despite the loss. 
    • You can read more about this dual in these award-winning match notes, and get CP's take on the dual in this video breakdown.
  • Ohio State also sent a few wrestlers to the Mat Town Open in Lock Haven.
    • Brandon Cannon won one of the two 157-pound brackets, while Paddy Gallagher made the finals at 165 before forfeiting, which would hint that Cannon and Gallagher will wrestle in the postseason at 157 and 165 for the Buckeyes, which would also mean that Sammy Sasso's college career could already be over.
    • Buckeye #23 Seth Shumate won the 197-pound division in Lock Haven.
  • Additionally in Penn State news, the Nittany Lions beat Illinois 29-9 on Sunday. You can read the award-winning match notes of that dual here. 
    • Illinois' #3 Lucas Byrd beat #7 Braeden Davis 7-1 in the marquee matchup of the dual. 
    • #27 Jason Kraisser beat Nittany Lion Joe Sealey 2-1, who was once again filling in for erstwhile starter Tyler Kasak, though the match was not without controversy. 
    • Fighting Illini #10 Luke Luffman beat Greg Kerkvliet's backup, Cole Mirasola, but that would be it for wins for Illinois. 
    • Penn State's murderer's row (i.e. the rest of their starting lineup) did what you'd expect them to, resulting in the 70th's straight dual meet victory for Cael Sanderson's Nittany Lions. Not bad!
  • Minnesota appeared on paper to have a path to victory against Iowa at home on Friday, but the Hawkeyes stepped up their game and shut the door on that notion early in the competition. 
    • Iowa's #23 Joey Cruz is looking more and more like a contender, as he beat #10 Cooper Flynn in sudden victory.
    • Hawkeye #2 Drake Ayala beat #12 Tyler Wells by decision at 133, and then unranked Cullan Schriever held #8 Vance Vombaur to a regular decision at 141 to set Iowa up for a team win. 
    • Jacori Teemer was also back in the lineup for Iowa. The grad transfer from Arizona State hit a perfectly timed match-winning takedown on #9 Tommy Askey to further deflate the Gophers' hopes midway through the match.
    • Gopher fans in the sold-out Maturi Pavillion were still treated to a dramatic sudden victory win by Max McEnelly over Gabe Arnold at 184 in a battle of top ten redshirt freshmen. Additionally, Gabe Steveson did things only he can do when he demolished #11 Ben Kueter with a first-period tech-fall. 
    • You can read award-winning match notes on the dual here and check out CP's video breakdown here. 
  • Iowa also trounced the Northwestern Wildcats 27-3 on Sunday.
    • The Hawkeyes were absent a few starters, including Jacori Teemer. Northwestern's sole win of the dual came at the expense of Teemer's back, Miguel Estrada, who #12 Trevor Chumbley defeated by sudden-victory decision.
  • A fairly decent dual meet between Iowa and Oklahoma State is scheduled for the last contest of the season next Sunday. 
  • Rutgers improved their season record to 13-5 and finished with a conference record of 5-3 after their win over Michigan State. 
    • #28 Remy Cotton got an impressive major over #18 John Poznanski in the best match of the weekend for the Spartans, as MSU also lost to Mittin State rival Michigan 27-12.
  •  Nebraska held their senior day on Sunday afternoon which resulted in a blowout win over Indiana, 39-2 (the Hoosiers were penalized a team point if you're wondering how they ended up with just 2 points).
    • Two of the closest bouts of the dual were the first two, as Husker #6 Caleb Smith squeaked by #16 Jacob Moran for the second time this season at 125, and #16 Jacob Van Dee was held to a regular decision by #27 Angelo Rini at 133.
    • The rest of the Huskers won by bonus until 285, where #19 Jacob Bullock of Indiana beat #21 Harley Andrews to pull the Hoosiers out of negative team point territory. 

Big 12 Ballyhoo

  • Iowa State split matches this weekend. Before their loss to Northern Iowa, the Cyclones impressed with a gutsy 20-15 win over #11 South Dakota State in Brookings, SD. 
    • All the matches in the Cyclone/Jackrabbit dual went according to the rankings until heavyweight, where Iowa State's #30 Daniel Herrera came up big with a dual saving minor upset over #26 Luke Rasmussen, 8-7.
    • It also looks like South Dakota State will get their 197-pounder Zach Glazier back for the postseason, as the senior grad transfer from Iowa made it to the finals of the Mat Town Open before forfeiting the last bout to Ohio State's Seth Shumate. 
  • Mizzou got good news at heavyweight, as #28 Seth Nitzel, who had missed some dual meets recently, entered and won the Mat Town Open.
  • Utah Valley tried to salvage senior night with a heroic comeback attempt against Northern Colorado but fell one point short, losing 22-21. 
    • Both programs' standard bearers, Utah Valley's #3 Terrell Barraclough at 165 and Northern Colorado's #2 Andrew Alirez at 141, won by major. 
  • Wyoming won their final two duals of the season. They traveled south for a Friday dual in Colorado Springs and defeated Air Force 27-9. Two days later they celebrated Senior Day at home with a 26-9 win over Northern Colorado. #21 Jared Hill had the performance of the weekend for the Cowboys with a minor upset over #18 Vinny Zerban in tiebreakers. 

ACC Asked & Answered

  • Stanford was victorious in two battles with fellow big-brained universities. 
    • The Cardinal defeated Princeton 20-17 and Duke 37-12
    • Hunter Garvin and Peter Ming both picked up ranked wins for Stanford over Duke.
    • At 149, Princeton's Ty Whalen notched an upset over #9 Jaden Abas at 149, returning the favor of true freshman Aden Valencia's win over Tiger #30 Eligh Rivera at 141. Finally, Stanford's #17 Nick Stemmett majored #16 Luke Stout at 197.
    • Stanford wasn't as successful against their ACC foe, NC State, losing 27-13.  
  • Ranked matchups were everywhere in Virginia Tech's 28-9 trouncing of Pitt. 
    • Key victories for the Hokies included #13 Jimmy Mullen over #17 Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight and a sudden victory scare for #1 Caleb Henson over #27 Finn Solomon at 149. Additionally, #31 Lennox Wolak looked more like his All-American self when he pinned #18 Luca Augustine in the second period.
    • Despite the team loss, Pitt received command performances by #23 Dylan Evan at 157, unranked Jared Keslar at 165, and #14 Mac Stout at 197, who all upset higher-ranked Hokies.

EIWA Explanations

  • The Battle of Long Island was settled in favor of Hofstra, who defeated LIU, 19-16. The dual started at 149 and it came down to the last match, where Justin Holy of Hofstra put the Pride over the top for good with an 11-6 win. Hofstra is now strongest of Strong Island. 
  • Lehigh defeated Eastern PA rival Penn 22-12.
    • Mountain Hawk true freshman Matty Lopes picked up a ranked win at 133 over #25 Ryan Miller, 4-3. Lopes wrestled in one tournament and five duals this season, but two of those duals counted as one 'event' so Lopes can still retain his redshirt. No official word on whether #1 Ryan Crookham will return to action in the postseason at 133 but his return hasn't officially been ruled out either. 
    • Lehigh also got an upset win at 184 from Caden Rogers over #20 Maximus Hale. 
    • #18 CJ Composto, #18 Cross Wasilewski and #22 Jude Swisher all beat ranked Mountain Hawks at 141, 149 & 157, respectively.  
  • American salvaged a win against fellow Patriot Leaguer, Bucknell. 
    • Will Jarrell triumphed in a must-win match at heavyweight to secure the team victory for the Eagles. 
    • Bucknell has two duals left this season, and Friday is their last home dual, where Kurt 'Ironman' Phipps hopes to win his 100th D1 match. 
  • In other AU Eagle news, American's redshirting senior national qualifier Maximilian Leete won the Mat Town Open at 133, with a 15-13 barn burner in the finals over Rutgers redshirting freshman Mason Gibson.
  • Western New York rivals Binghamton and Buffalo went at it in Buffalo. The Bearcats won handily, 29-10, leading Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff to declare victory in the wing department as well.
  • Morgan State earned their second D1 dual meet victory over the season when they defeated Sacred Heart 29-20. This victory fittingly came during Black History Month for the only HBCU with a D1 wrestling program. 

Ivy Inventory

  • Cornell decisively beat Arizona State 25-12, though the Sun Devils did get upset wins at 133 and 141 with #30 Julian Chlebove and unranked Emilio Ysaguirre, respectively. 
    • Cornell already concluded their conference schedule as undefeated Ivy League dual champs. They are 10-1 on the season with one dual remaining next week at home against Bucknell. Their only loss this season was to NC State 20-18 back in December. 
  • The Penn Quakers earned runner-up honors in Ivy League dual meets after they vanquished Princeton 31-7. Cross Wasilewski picked up the only upset of the contest, a minor #18 over #16 against Ty Whalen at 149. 
  • Columbia won two duals this weekend to improve first-year head coach Donny Pritzlaff's record to 5-7 overall and 2-3 in Ivy League duals. The Lions defeated Brown 27-17 and Harvard 32-8.
    • Columbia's #29 Nick Fine defeated #31 Andrew Reall in the only ranked matchup in the contest against Brown. There were no ranked bouts in the dual versus Harvard. 

MAC Machinations 

  • Cleveland State wrestled in what will likely be their second-to-last dual meet in program history, as the Viking wrestling program, along with two other sports teams on campus, was told by the school that this will be their last year being sponsored as varsity sports. 
    • CSU lost to Lock Haven, which is coached by Scott Moore, twin brother of Viking head coach Josh Moore. 
    • The dual took place at Franklin High School, from which the Moore brothers graduatedl.
    • #31 Daniel Bucknavich registered a fall at heavyweight. He is CSU's lone ranked wrestler, which means he could also be the only qualifier for NCAAs, though we are naturally rooting for the Vikings to qualify others as well!
  • It appears that Bobcat All-American Peyten Kellar is unfortunately out for the year due to injuries. Ohio also lost their dual to MAC rival SIUE, though #32 Jeremy Olszko and #20 Jordan Greer picked up wins for the Bobcats in the loss. 
  • Northern Illinois traveled to San Luis Obispo, CA to wrangle the Cal Poly Mustangs in a dual NIU won 25-19. 
    • Huskie heroes include #25 Blake West, who beat #29 Koda Holeman at 125, and unranked Markel Baker, who upset #4 Zeth Romney 7-6 at 133. That last result was the biggest upset of the week by a large margin.  

SoCon Seminar

  • Bellarmine picked up two wins on Friday, 23-12 over Gardner-Webb and 49-0 over Presbyterian, running their season record up to 6-3. Not bad for a school that was still D2 for the 2019-20 season!
    • Gardner-Webb and Bellarmine each have one ranked wrestler, and they faced off at 141 where Gardner-Webb's #28 Todd Carter emerged victorious over #25 AJ Rallo, 7-0. 
  • The Army-Navy dual wasn't the only historic rivalry between military academies that was renewed on the mat this weekend. The Military Classic of the South between the Citadel and VMI was held in the picturesque town of Lexington, Virginia on Sunday.
    • The Citadel hammered the Keydets 33-6, which included a win by the lone ranked wrestler on either squad, #27 Patrick Brophy at 197. 
  • The Citadel also picked up a big conference win over Campbell on Friday, 24-11. 
    • The Camels were missing several starters and the Bulldogs took advantage, winning seven of ten matchups. 
  • Chattanooga earned a hard-fought victory over Gardner-Webb in a 22-17 thriller. It was 17-3 in favor of the Runnin' Bulldogs with just four matches left, and the Mocs won them all, each by bonus including three by tech-fall. 
    • Takeo Davis for GWU upset #21 Blake Boarman at 141 but Chattanooga's #28 Sergio Desiante led the comeback at 174 with an 18-3 second period tech-fall. 

Pac-12 Ponderings

  • Little Rock won three duals this weekend, including two over fellow Pac-12'ers Cal Poly and CSU-Bakersfield. 
    • We did not see AJ Ferrari this weekend, so no match against #6 at 197 Stephen Little of Little Rock. 
    • We did see #8 Chance Lamer of Cal Poly wrestle #12 Jordan Williams of Little Rock at 149, a contest won by Lamer 7-2. 
    • We also so Trojan #8 Nasir Bailey defeat Mustang #4 Zeth Romney 8-2 at 133.
    • All three highly ranked Trojans won in Little Rock's victory over North Dakota State, 21-16. 
    • Little Rock is now, astoundingly, back-to-back Pac-12 champs!

So What Is It Already, State or States?

Of course, the answer is both!

Putting the answer at the end of the blog was obviously a click-bait SEO-inspired move, but my ambivalent answer is sincere. 

Regional variety is the spice of wrestling life, and the fact that some places call it 'state' and other places call it 'states' is fine. It's good even. Makes for lively discussions and adds flavor to the discourse. As long as you don't actually get mad about it. 

And what are you even doing getting mad online anyway? That's the one thing you shouldn't do while online. It's like the golden rule of logging on. Live is too short to be mad online. 

So anyway, growing up in New Jersey meant I called it 'states', but I am happy for anyone who grew up calling it 'state'. Good for you, and good for all of us!

Same thing with having different names for different moves. Arm bar or bar arm, cement job or cow catcher or snake, head lever and, wait there is no other term for a head lever, sorry that was a bad example. 

Heavy Metal Matness

I'll be honest, I was thinking of ending this bit a week ago but I persevered and now I've only got two weeks to go so no point in quitting now. Quitting is not very metal. 

Today, I will compare the Illinois wrestling program with Korn. 

To start, there's the obvious joke about Illinois being one of the top corn-producing states in the US. 

Additionally, Blind by Korn was a very popular song for high school teams to run out to before home duals back in the 90s. At least it was in New Jersey and I'm assuming it was also the case in Illinois. 

Okay, that's all I got in me this week. It's okay to mail it in every now and then. Need to save some strength for the big finale next week!

Listen to Korn and watch the Illinois Fighting Illini wrestling team in my opinion.

Contact Me with Feedback or Suggestions!

Only one more opportunity this season to send suggestions and requests for this blog. General commendations and condemnations, however, can be sent to me anytime you like. Send them to me on twitter @speywrestle or via email at andrew.spey@flosports.tv. 

Infinite thanks for reading, it really does make my day knowing even one person makes it to the end of this blog!