Jan 9-10, 4:00 PM UTC

NWCA Multi-Division National Dual Champs

  Jan 9-10, 3:20 PM UTC

Eastern States

  Jan 9-10, 5:00 PM UTC

Doc Buchanan

  Jan 9-11, 2:00 PM UTC

Virginia Duals

  Today · 2:00 PM UTC

Jerry Eckenrod Bobcat Invitational

  Jan 9-10, 5:00 PM UTC

Gut Check Boys

  Today · 3:00 PM UTC

Badgerland National 2026 Midwest Tour

  Today · 3:00 PM UTC

Texas Nationals and Come & Take It Duals

  Jan 9-10, 11:15 PM UTC

2026 Braided 64

  Today · 3:00 PM UTC

Bedlam Battle

  Jan 9-10, 7:15 PM UTC

Beehive Brawl

  Today · 3:00 PM UTC

Berryhill Brawl

  Jan 9-10, 11:00 PM UTC

GTOC 2026 - Girls Tournament of Champion

  Today · 1:00 AM UTC

Rodriguez Tournament of Champions

  Today · 3:00 PM UTC

Battle at the Axe

NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2025-26

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 10 Roundup: Back To The Mats

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 10 Roundup: Back To The Mats

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 8th week of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Jan 5, 2026 by Andrew Spey
NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 10 Roundup: Back To The Mats

Hello and happy New Year from Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the Southern Scuffle just concluded another outstanding edition of the annual tournament! 

Week 8 Rankings | Week 10 Box Scores

Roundups: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9

College wrestling returned to action after a holiday week, during which there were no results for us to make note of. However, that didn't stop your humble blogger from writing a Roundup anyway, as I simply repurposed this space for a recap of all of 2025. 

Now that we've traveled through time to the year 2026 (a mere 17 years before the events in the original Robocop movie take place), we can recap the bounty of competitions from week 10 of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 college wrestling season. I'd buy that for a dollar! 

But first, our DotCotW.

The Dual of the Century, of the Week

Dragons Slay Boilermakers 19 to 16

While the Drexel vs Purdue featured less ranked matchups (in this case zero) than I typically like to see in a DotCotW, it did otherwise feature all the hallmarks of a quality dual meet. 

  • An evenly matched dual with five wins per team? CHECK
  • Multiple lead changes? CHECK
  • A LOT of lead changes, like, six lead changes? CHECK
  • A dual that's hanging in the balance up until the final match? CHECK
  • A result that delights the fans in the home gym, potentially making new life-long fans of the sport? CHECK

A t-shirt toss sponsored by Omnicorp? Okay, will maybe it didn't have EVERYTHING. 

The hero of the dual goes to Luke Nichter of Drexel at 157-pounds. The unranked sixth-year senior defeated #16 Stoney Buell by major decision, 12-4. That proved to be the pivotal bout and only upset of the meet. A result that would make Robocop himself beam with pride (if he was from Philadelphia and not Detroit, anyway). 

Midland Mania in Evanston!

The Ken Kraft Midlands returned to the campus of Northwestern for the 61st edition of the venerable holiday institution.

Rutgers won!

Here are some more notes in weight class order. 

  • 125: Iowa State true freshman Christian Castillo placed fourth, beating Vinny Kilkeary but losing to Northern Illinois’ Blake West (Desperado, rough rider, no you don’t want nada), who won the division.
  • 133: Virginia Tech true freshman Aaron Seidel dominated his way to a title, teaching All-American Dylan Shawver and pinning U23 world champ Andreu Reineri of the Cyclone RTC in the finals. Tech has #9 Dillon Campbell at 133, but it's going to be tough to keep Seidel in a redshirt with performances like this. Can 133 get any more bonkers with young talent? 
  • 141: Elijah Cortez, a Cornell commit representing the Spartan Combat RTC, won this weight. His brother Isaiah, another Cornell commit at the SC-RTC, took fourth at 133. Zeth Romney of Cal Poly was back in action for the Broncos, but the All-American did not place.
  • 149: The Hokies had three placers. Senior transfer from Maryland, Ethen Miller, was back down at 149 and won by forfeit in the 5th place bout over teammate and freshman Noah Nininger. Another freshman, Collin Gaj, however, occupied the top spot of the podium with wins over Sergio Lemley and Michael Gioffre.
  • 157: Dylan Evans was the sole Panther champ at the tourney. 
  • 165: Buckeye backup e’Than Birden defeated Rutgers’ Andrew Barbosa in the finals. Barbosa beat Noah Mulvaney on his way to the finals.
  • 165: Bucknell had five placers. Myles Takats was the Bison’s sole champ, as he defeated Daschle Lamer in the finals. Sergio Desiante of Virginia Tech by way of Chattanooga was third. 
  • 174: Rutgers put nine on the podium in Midlands (though only four of them would score team points). Shane Cartegna-Walsh was one of the point scorers and one of two Scarlet Knight champs. 
  • 197: Seth Shumate was the second Buckeye backup to claim a Midlands Championship. Cornell commit and SC-RTC team member Jude Correa finished 6th.
  • 285: Hunter Catka scored a feet to back counter in the final seconds of his final bout against Devon Dawson of Northern Illinois to win by a major decision and secure the team title for the Scarlet Knights in the last bout of the tournament. Without those bonus points scored in the final seconds, the Knights are not in sole possession of the team title. 

Scuffling in Chattanooga, Southern Style

Since I was just inside McKenzie Arena, aka the Roundhouse, I should be able to do a similar recap, weight by weight. 

  • 125: North Dakota State freshman Zeke Witt has proven he can wrestle with the best of the weight class (and celebrate with steeze), but this weekend was about Fast Eddie Ventresca, the two-time All-American from Virginia Tech who proved to be the best in the bracket. He also defeated former teammate Coper Flynn, who has since transferfed to the home team Chattanooga Mocs, located in Flynn's home state of Tennessee. 
    • Cornell's Greg Diakomihalis was back in action for the first time all year. He placed fourth and may still be challenged by teammate Marcello Milani for the starting gig. Milani made the quarters before losing to Ventresca and forfeiting out of the tourney. 
  • 133: Northern Colorado's Dom Serrano won a title over Maryland's Braxton Brown and won Outstanding Wrestler. 
    • Serrano also beat American's Max Leete, who placed fourth. Leete is in a dog fight for the starting AU gig with Raymond Lopez, who placed seventh. 
    • Lopez was upset by Michigan State Caleb Weiand, who also beat Virginia Tech's Dillon Campbell. Weiand did not wrestle in day 2 of the tourney and finished tied for sixth with Campbell, who forfeited his last two consolation bouts. 
  • 141: A very competitive bracket was won by Vince Cornella, who was back in action for the Big Red. He convincingly defeated Ivy rival CJ Composto in the finals. 
    • This weight class featured a lot of 'J's: CJ Composto, AJ Rallo, and JJ McComas. 125 also had JJ Peace, 157 had CJ Liddle, 165 had DJ Shannon and AJ Rodrigues, and finally, heavyweight had DJ Spring. You'd think I'd have better things to make note of in this Roundup, and yet here we are, making note of it anyway. 
    • Aaron Nagao started the tournament for the Nittany Lions in his first action since getting injured at the Black Knight Invite. Unfortunatley Nagao withdrew after winning one bout. 
      • In other Penn State 141-pound news, over in Edinboro at the Kauffman Open, Braeden Davis wrestled his first matches of the season, winning the 141lb bracket while wrestling unattached. 
  • 149: Maryland's newly minted transfer from Oklahoma State, Carter Young, defeated the number one seed, Cross Wasilewski of Penn, but then did not wrestle in his semifinal bout. That opened the door for Penn State's Connor Pierce, Shayne Van Ness' understudy -- I don't feel right calling them 'backups'-- to win the bracket. Pierce was the first of five Penn State champs. 
  • 157: Penn State's redshirt freshman, Joe Sealey, also PJ Duke's 'understudy', looked great making the finals, as did NC State's true freshman, Daniel 'Sauce' Zepeda. Sealey and Zepeda then had one of the best bouts of the tournament until Zepeda appeared to injure his knee with under 30 seconds to go. Zepeda gritted out the rest of the match, and his current status is unknown. Credit to Sealey, however, who had just scored the go-ahead points when the injury occurred. 
  • 165: Little Rock's Matty Bianchi is out to prove that last year's All-American honors were no fluke, as the #6 ranked wrestler in the nation took home the Scuffle crown, notching multiple ranked wins in the process. 
  • 174: Levi Haines' 'understudy' Will Henckel took home the crown. You can imagine that wrestling animals like Haines in the room all the time will give a blue-chip recruit like Henckel all the confidence he needs to take on the field at the Scuffle. 
    • Duke's Aidan Wallace took third, giving Henckel one of his toughest bouts in the process. 
  • 184: App State's Tomas Brooker beat VA Tech's Jaden Bullock, and American's Caleb Campos beat ND State's Aiden Brenot to notch two of the bigger upsets of the tournament, but the weight belonged to Asher 'Smasher' Cunningham of Penn State, as Rocco Welsh's 'understudy' beat Campos in the finals. 
  • 197: Josh Barr is currently the understudy to no one on the Penn State roster, and the 2025 NCAA finalist proved why by blitzing a very strong field and claiming a title. Barr beat Branson John in the semis and Stephen Little in the finals to earn his title. Unfortunately, it appeared that Little is dealing with an injury to one of his legs, though hopefully it is nothing serious. 
  • 285: Big Jim Mullen of Virginia Tech took home the crown over surprise finalist Michael Gasper of Little Rock, though it would be wise to put Gasper on your radar now, as the Trojan gave Mullen all he could handle in the finals. 
    • Penn State's Lucas Cochran beat Army's Brady Colbert in the quarterfinals but withdrew from the tournament after that bout. 
  • Oh yeah, Penn State won the team title with essentially one starter entered in the tournament.

Saluting the Soldiers in Wrestle-Town, USA

Admittedly, I had a much harder time keeping up with all the action at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa. I am but one man who was in the midst of Scuffling all weekend long. A Scufflonian has but two eyes and two ears. I'm not some cybernetically enhanced law enforcement officer with augmented computer senses, you know. 

In any event, some of the bigger news I gleaned from the tournament was that Koy Hopke is good at wrestling, as the Minnesota heavyweight beat Christian Carroll in the semifinals (who had just beaten Coby Merrill in the quarters) and Cade Ziola in the finals (who had just bearten Spenser Lanosga in the semis and Bennett Tabor in the quarters) to take the 285lb title. 

Elsewhere at the Saulte: #9 Danny Wask defeated Gabe Arnold in sudden victory to win the 174lb title, and two of the highest-ranked wrestlers in the tournament, #2 Aeoden Sinclair and #7 Joey Novak, won the 184 and 197lb titles, respectively. Finally, Missouri edged past North Carolina to claim the team title by a mere five points. 

Barring Journeymen Arms in New York

Four division one teams were in Clifton Park, New York, just outside of Albany, at the Journeymen Armbar for a dual meet bonanza. Lock Haven won the unofficial title, as they handily beat Princeton and Binghamton. Lock Haven didn't wrestle Hofstra, however, Princeton handily beat Hofstra, so by the transitive property, crown the Bald Eagles in my opinion. 

Elsewhere in Dual Country

It was a relatively quiet week for duals, what with the Midlands, Scuffle, and Salute all cropping up around the New Year. 

  • Purdue bounced back after their loss to Drexel with a drubbing of Rider to complete their eastern road trip.
  • South Dakota State notched a program first with a win over the Arizona State Sun Devils.
    • The Dual was held off campus at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, a larger arena than can be found in Brookings on the SDSU campus. 
    • The Sun Devils picked up wins from the Larkin brothers, but the Jackrabbits won six of ten and registered the only pinfall of the evening at 125-pounds. 
  • Stanford gave Iowa State a run for their money. The Cyclones were missing a few key pieces of their lineup, but Aden Valencia reversed a loss to Jacob Frost at the CKLV set the Cardinal up for a potential upset. Yonger Bastida closed the door on that notion, however, with a tech-fall in the final bout that took the Cyclones from down three to up two, permanently. 
  • Though it featured seven ranked matchups, Ohio State had too much firepower for Oregon State, as the Buckeyes won the battle of OSUs 41-3 in front of 4,860 fans in a raucous Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon. 
    • Ohio State won nine weights, but Justin Rademacher gave Beaver Nation something to cheer about when he defeated Luke Geog in tiebreakers at 197.

Requeium for the Lancers

Some of the worst kinds of news we can make note of in this blog is when a D1 wrestling program gets shut down. There are only 78 extant teams eligible for the postseason, and the entire community feels it when we lose one, no matter how big or small the program. 

California Baptist's vice president for athletics, Micah Parker, waited until the so-called Friday evening news dump to cowardly announce that wrestling, along with men's golf and men's swimming and diving, would be shuttered following the conclusion of the season. 

The Lancers compete in the Big 12 and are valiantly coached by Derek Moore. They only just made the transition from Division II to Division I in 2020 and were making progress every year. The Lancers recorded their first-ever NCAA qualifiers in 2024 and repeated the feat in 2025. 

We are likely to be denied further chapters of California Baptist's wrestling arc, however, NWCA President Mike Moyer has vowed to fight the decision, and the wrestling community is not without its resources to reverse the closing. We've done it before with Stanford! 

We will report any updates to the situation on Flo. Optimism regarding the prospects of saving the program is always appreciated, alas, caution is nonetheless advised. 

Hey, Here's A Cool Video

Penn State recently broke the 75-year old record for most D1 dual meet wins in a row. Pretty impressive! Our very own Mark Bader was there document that momentous occasion, and our very own Connor 'the Sweet Prince' Petros made this excellent video about it. Surely, it is worth eight minutes of your time. 

Why Try? Ask AI

I asked ChatGPT: What are the most highly anticipated NCAA D1 college wrestling events in the remainder of the 2025-26 season?

And this so-called intelligent computer listed a bunch of events that already took place. Nice try, robot fool. Anyway, here's what ChatGPT said. 

  • Midlands Championships — Dec. 29-30, 2025
    • One of the most prestigious non-conference collegiate wrestling tournaments, featuring top ranked individuals and teams from across the country. This event often includes both men’s and women’s divisions and is a key early-season blockbuster.
  • These duals are among the most talked-about matchups of the season, often featuring ranked programs and rivalries with postseason implications (many televised on ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN+): 
    • Iowa at Iowa State — historic rivalry usually televised nationally (Nov 30, 2025). 
    • Iowa vs. Oklahoma State — renewed powerhouse rivalry (Feb 22, 2026). 
    • ACC Friday Night Duals series — highlights include Virginia Tech vs. NC State, NC State vs. Pittsburgh, and more (late Jan-Feb).
  • National Duals Invitational
    • A dual-meet tournament featuring elite programs and substantial prizes; creates high-stakes matchups outside the regular dual calendar. The inaugural 2025 edition featured 16 top teams and boosts interest for future ones — keep an eye on the 2026 rollout as well.
  • Big Ten Wrestling Championships — March 7-8, 2026
    • The Big Ten is often the deepest conference in NCAA wrestling, with several nationally ranked programs competing for the crown.
  • 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
    • This is the pinnacle event of the season — where team and individual national champions are crowned. Expect the best wrestlers from across the country battling in one of college wrestling’s biggest weekends.

Yeah, so Midlands, National Duals, and Iowa at Iowa State already happened. Iowa vs Oklahoma State and the ACC duals are anticipated, for sure, as are Big Tens and NCAAs (I mean, duh). Maybe that's useful to the less knowledgeable wrestling fans, but there's plenty of room for improvement from our future AI overlords, especially if we're talking about the usefulness to wise and learned wrestling fans such as readers of this very blog. 

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable New Year's. It's dual meet season. The next two months are going to fly by as we get closer and closer to the postseason. See you next week!