The Biggest Upsets From A Wild Week Of NCAA Wrestling

The Biggest Upsets From A Wild Week Of NCAA Wrestling

We recap the biggest NCAA wrestling upsets from week 12 of the 2017-18 season

Jan 23, 2018 by Andrew Spey
The Biggest Upsets From A Wild Week Of NCAA Wrestling

The NCAA dual meet season has kicked into high gear, as upsets from week 12 provided pundits with a plethora of talking points. Join us, as run down the biggest surprises of college wrestling!

184: #18 Nick Gravina, Rutgers over #7 Taylor Venz, Nebraska

Nebraska redshirt freshman Taylor Venz made the wrestling world take notice when he blitzed through a brutal CKLV bracket, making the finals over three ranked opponents. Nick Gravina had yet to notch an elite win this year, until the Scarlet Knights flew to Lincoln, NE, to take on the Huskers. Gravina won a convincing 9-3 decision over Venz, putting him right back in the All-American conversation at 184.

Watch Gravina and Venz's match:

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149: Andrew Crone, Wisconsin over #5 Alec Pantaleo, Michigan

Just when Michigan junior Alec Pantaleo looked to be returning to title contending shape, unranked Wisconsin redshirt senior Andrew Crone turned expectations on their head with a 3-0 shutout. 

Watch Crone and Pantaleo's match:

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125: #6 Spencer Lee, Iowa over #1 Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State

The magnitude of the upset is mitigated by the updated rankings that have moved Lee ahead of Tomasello, but any time a #1-ranked wrestler with a national championship and two third-place finishes goes down to a true freshman, it's big news. 

Watch the highlights from Lee and Tomasello's historic match:

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125: #12 Drew Mattin, Michigan over #5 Ethan Lizak, Minnesota

There were four upsets at 125 last weekend, making it the most volatile division in college. Lizak got teched by Nathan Tomasello a week ago but righted the ship with a victory over Travis Piotrowski the same weekend. Then true freshman Drew Mattin (it was a good weekend for the 125-pound true frosh) capsized Lizak with a win in tiebreakers. 

Watch Mattin and Lizak's match:

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125: #15 Ryan Millhof, Arizona State over #9 Ronnie Bresser, Oregon State

Ryan Millhof's resurgence in the second half of the season continued with a win over Ronnie Bresser (who beat Spencer Lee at Midlands). It was the third top 10 upset at 125 during the weekend. The fourth top 20 surprise came by way of unranked Connor Brown of South Dakota State beating #18 Jay Schwarm of Northern Iowa.

133: Jason Renteria, Nebraska over #14 Scott DelVecchio, Rutgers

Nebraska ripped up Renteria's redshirt and sent the true freshman out against the visiting bloodround finisher Scott DelVecchio of Rutgers. Youth prevailed as J-Rent scored a 14-11 victory over the fifth-year senior from New Jersey. 

149: #4 Grant Leeth, Missouri over #3 Justin Oliver, Central Michigan

It was a narrow upset on paper, but few wrestlers have raised as many eyebrows this season as Grant Leeth. The powerful neck-braced junior from Missouri has taken the weight class by storm, most recently evidenced by his 3-1 decision over Justin Oliver. Beyond Retherford and Sorensen at #1 and #2, respectively, 149 has seen regular turnover at every other position. 

165: #9 Nick Wanzek, Minnesota over #4 Logan Massa, Michigan

Last year's fourth-place finisher at 165 pounds, Logan Massa hasn't been the same since his loss to Evan Wick at the CKLV. That loss knocked him out of commission for a few weeks, and when he returned he has since taken losses to #1 Vincenzo Joseph and now #9 Nick Wanzek. 

285 #10 Amar Dhesi, Oregon State over #4 Tanner Hall, Arizona State

Hall dropped a 9-5 decision to his Pac-12 rival, Amar Dhesi. The loss was Hall's second of the week — the other coming by way of #7 Nathan Butler of Stanford. Butler has since moved up to #5 and Hall down to #7, as the heavyweight division saw the biggest reshuffling of its top half yet this year.

That was every top 10 upset of the week, although there were plenty more further down the rankings. Will subsequent weeks be able to top the pandemonium of week 12? We've got four more glorious weeks of dual meets before the postseason to find out!