Over the past few weeks, we’ve been keeping track of every pre-season intrasquad match result we could find for division 1 teams - you can view all of those results here. It’s incredibly challenging to follow every result from every team, so in the below article, we sorted through every pre-season wrestle-off and highlighted the biggest upsets, freshmen to watch, and every other important result to get you primed and ready for the regular season.

Ohio State’s Surprising Results

It’s not that surprising Decatur took out #9 ranked D’Emilio considering he also won in their wrestle-off last year - 8-6 in overtime. It's still a great sign that Decatur is back to full health after missing all of last season with an injury. It was, however, surprising when Bryce Hepner took out returning All-American #7 Carson Kharchla (2-1). What does this mean for the starting spots at 141 and 165 for the Buckeyes? CP broke it down a little further here but expect Coach Ryan and company to send both potential starters to the MSU Open next week or try each potential starter out in duals throughout the season to determine the best option. While I don’t expect Kharchla to be riding the bench in March, I also don’t expect Hepner to go down without a fight. 

Iowa State’s Freshmen Watch

The Cyclones had the #2 2022 recruiting class led by blue-chippers Casey Swiderski, MJ Gaitan, and Manny Rojas. The question now - who goes in the starting lineup right away? Iowa State’s staff has been vocal about sending out Swiderski at 141 and he won his wrestle-off in a close, 6-5 decision over fellow freshman Jacob Frost. Should that close result temper our expectations on Swiderski this year or was the close match just a case of “room familiarity”? We’ll find out on November 5th when Swiderski takes on returning NCAA qualifier Joe Zargo in Iowa State's dual against Wisconsin (you can see a full preview of that awesome dual here).

Cyclone fans should optimistic about MJ Gaitan following his performance in the wrestle-offs. Gaitan took out fellow freshman Manny Rojas 3-2 in the opening round of the 174-pound wrestle-off brackets. Then in the final round, Gaitan was down 3-0 against Julien Broderson before securing a reversal to a fall. At this point in the season, Broderson is still likely to remain the starter at 174 but don’t be surprised to see Gaitan in a few open tournaments or big-time duals to test his readiness as a true freshman. 

Tanner Harvey Is Back For The Beavers

Two-time NCAA qualifier for American University has been off the mat since March of 2020. Over 2 and ½ years later, Harvey looks poised to be a force at 197 for Oregon State. Harvey won his wrestle-off against HM Ryan Reyes with a dominant 17-6 major decision. On top of that, Harvey has a past win over #12 Cam Caffey from the 2019-2020 season. 197 pounds is deep but Harvey looks to have the potential to contend for All-American honors this year. 

Watch Out For Pitt’s Pitzer

Dayton Pitzer impressed in his wrestle-off by securing an 11-1 major decision victory against 3-year starter Jacob Slinger. Pitzer was ranked as the #45 recruit in the class of 2022 and was a 3-time Pennsylvania state champion. Will Pitzer start right away for the Panthers? He’s certainly the best heavyweight in the room and will be one to watch out for at open tournaments throughout the year. Pitt opens the year at the Clarion Open and is also scheduled to wrestle at Midlands. Those could be two tests for Pitzer to help determine whether or not he’ll redshirt this season for the Panthers. 

Big Boarders Likely To Redshirt After Wrestle-Offs

There were a number of highly ranked big boarders from the class of 2022 who took part in their respective schools' wrestle-offs but fell to more experienced veterans. That means these wrestlers will likely take the year to develop in redshirt. These wrestlers will be worth keeping an eye on throughout the season to track their progress in their first year out of high school Take a look below to see some of the wrestle-off results for big boarders who will likey redshirt during the 2022-2023 season (big board ranking listed next to name).

• #10 Matt Singleton beat Joey Milano 5-4, lost to Brock Delsignore, 7-4 (NC State)
• #19 Brody Conley beat Jack Blumer, 2-0, lost to Scott Joll, 5-1 (West Virginia)
• #20 Manny Rojas lost to MJ Gaitan, 3-2 (Iowa State)
• #25 Zach Seltzer lost to Connor Brown, 10-4 (Missouri)
• #31 TJ Stewart lost 8-2 to Andy Smith (Virginia Tech)
• #32 Clayton Whiting lost to Sean Harman, 3-2 (Missouri)
• #33 Joey Cruz lost to Joey Prata, 9-0 (Oklahoma)
• #34 Seth Shumate lost to Gavin Hoffman, 8-0 (Ohio State)
• #41 John Wiley lost to Jacob Butler, 9-5 (Oklahoma)
• #49 Gabe Whisenhunt lost to Jason Shaner, 16-0 (Oregon State)
• #55 Finn Solomon beat Hunter Lewis 12-0, lost to Jackson Arrington, 5-3 (NC State)
• #68 Dom Baker lost to Riley Augustine, 3-2 (Campbell)
• #73 Brennan Van Hoecke beat Jaylen Carson 7-3, lost to Jayden Gomez, 6-3 (Little Rock)

The Best Of The Rest Lineup Battles

Finally, wrestle-off season always reveals surprising and notable results that produce lineup battles that will unfold throughout the season. Check out some of the "upsets" that took place in wrestle-offs that will produce lineup battles to watch:

• 125: Eddie Ventresca dec HM Cooper Flynn, 3-1 SV-1 (Virginia Tech)
• 133: Joey Melendez FALL HM Jaime Hernandez (North Carolina)
• 141: Tom Crook dec. HM Collin Gerardi, 7-4 (Virginia Tech)
• 141: Isaiah Delgado dec. #18 Ty Smith, 4-2 (Utah Valley)
• 149: Mason Shrader dec. #15 (at 157) Johnny Lovett, 7-4 (Central Michigan)
• 149: Mitch Moore dec. #16 Willie McDougald, 2-0 (Oklahoma)
• 157: Jason Kraisser dec. #24 Isaac Judge, 5-4 (Iowa State)
• 285: Owen Trephen dec. #19 Tyrie Houghton, 5-4 (Ohio State)

There are still a few more wrestle-offs to take place, we'll update this article if anything notable happens in those intrasquad meets. Also, if you think I missed anything worth highlighting, let me know by emailing me at jonathan.kozak@flosports.tv or sending me a dm on Twitter @KozakJon.