Ho ho ho! Speynta Claus has one more gift in his sack for all the good wise and learned wrestling fans before he starts his Christmas vacation! It's all the upsets we could find based on rankings from week 8 of the NCAA D1 2025-26 season! 

Week 7 Rankings | Upsets: Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4| Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1

It's also our last set of upsets until the new year, as there are no NCAA D1 wrestling competitions between now and next Monday, December 29. So the next scheduled set of upsets isn't due until January 5!

All the usual caveats apply to the upsets we found in our yuletide week of upsets. Upsets based strictly on the rankings may not be considered upsets by the end of the year, or even by Tuesday. 

Double Digit Upsets

Where the difference between the rank of the upsetor and the upsetee is ten or greater.

157: Meyer Shapiro, Cornell over #7 Kannon Webster, Illinois 2-1

133: Geronimo Rivera, Utah Valley over #9 Zan Fugitt, Wisconsin 5-2

125: #32 Ezekiel Witt, North Dakota State over #11 Nico Provo, Stanford 7-2

157: Meyer Shapiro, Cornell over #19 Jaivon Jones, Little Rock Tech 20-3

197: Josh Barr, Penn State over #20 Angelo Posada, Stanford Tech 19-3

125: #27 Bridger Ricks, Utah Valley over #13 Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin 11-8 SV

149: Ryan Michaels, Edinboro over #21 Kade Brown, Pittsburgh 5-4

165: #20 Bryce Hepner, North Carolina over #7 Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa 7-4

125: #28 Kysen Terukina, North Carolina over #16 Trever Anderson, Northern Iowa 5-3

165: Brendon Abdon, Rider over #23 Cesar Alvan, Columbia Fall 0:26

285: #31 Nate Schon, Drexel over #20 Trevor Tinker, Cal Poly 8-5 SV

184: #30 Rylan Rogers, Lehigh over #20 Chris Moore, Illinois 4-2

We would be remiss if we didn't highlight that Meyer Shapiro and Josh Barr were taken out of the rankings due to inactivity, but the last time they were ranked, they were substantially higher than the wrestlers they beat to make this list this week. So those results come with an especially large caveat. Still, completists demand we include them!

Of the other upsets (the REAL upsets to most people), Utah Valley notched two of the most impressive results, sandwiching an impressive upset from North Dakota State. 

Single Digit Upsets

Where the difference between the rank of the upsetor and the upsetee is less than ten.

285: Stephan Monchery, Appalachian State over #25 Connor Barket, Duke 6-4

165: #21 Connor Euton, Iowa State over #12 Paddy Gallagher, Ohio State 4-2

157: Cade Wirnsberger, Bucknell over #26 Colton Washleski, Virginia 4-3

285: Brenan Morgan, Virginia over #27 Lucas Lawler, Bucknell 17-12

157: #11 PJ Duke, Penn State over #4 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford 5-2

184: #26 Christian Hansen, Cornell over #20 Chris Moore, Illinois 7-3

184: Wyatt Ferguson, Central Michigan over #29 Caleb Campos, American Fall 2:33

133: Richard Murillo, California Baptist over #30 Kyle Waterman, Drexel 8-3

125: JJ Peace, American over #30 Richard Castro-Sandoval, CSU Bakersfield 4-1

149: #13 Casey Swiderski, Oklahoma State over #9 Chance Lamer, Nebraska 7-2

157: #6 Antrell Taylor, Nebraska over #2 Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State 3-2 TB

174: Enrique Munguia, Rider over #31 Nick Fine, Columbia 11-6

133: #22 Julian Farber, Northern Iowa over #19 Ethan Oakley, North Carolina 11-10 TB

149: #7 Jacob Frost, Iowa State over #4 Ethan Stiles, Ohio State 4-1 SV

PJ Duke has an impressive enough record in freestyle so that many fans might not consider his win over Daniel Cardenas an upset, but that's simply not how we've ever done things around here. The upshot is PJ Duke will rarely enter any future collegiate bout as an underdog according to rankings, which is how things always work out with true freshmen and our NCAA rankings, and why we don't plan on changing our methodology anytime soon!

Barely Upsets

Where the difference between the rank of the upsetor and the upsetee is either one or two.

149: Riley Bower, Bucknell over #32 Eugene Harney, Morgan State Fall 1:50

133: Brendan Ferretti, Navy over #33 Javaan Yarbrough, Morgan State Fall 0:52

165: Brock Woodcock, SIU Edwardsville over #33 Peyten Kellar, Oklahoma 13-7

165: #9 Braeden Scoles, Illinois over #8 Max Brignola, Lehigh 5-1

133: #7 Marcus Blaze, Penn State over #6 Tyler Knox, Stanford Fall 6:44

174: #7 Christopher Minto, Nebraska over #6 Alex Facundo, Oklahoma State 4-1

Marcus Blaze, like his teammate PJ Duke, has freestyle accolades that suggest he was the betting favorite against Tyler Knox, despite what our rankings said. Similarly to Duke, Blaze will be favored based on rankings more often in the future. 

Those were all the upsets we found in week 8. Let us know if we missed any. Thanks and Merry Christmas!