It was a busy weekend in the wrestling world and Division III programs around the country were taking advantage of the opportunity to compete. Multiple DIII wrestlers made the trek to Omaha, Nebraska to compete in freestyle and Greco-Roman at UWW Juniors and Universities. #19 Adrian College also hosted a competitive invitational this past weekend, this was the first NCAA competition that took place this season. The field included DIII Trine University, #7 NAIA-Indiana Institute of Technology, and NAIA-Thomas More University.

U23 Nationals wasn't a replacement tournament for the canceled NCAAs from March, nor was it a complete preview of what the 2020-21 NCAA season might look like in a normal year, but it did attract the strongest U23 field in recent memory despite not having a world team spot on the line. 

Greco only had one day to make an impression in Omaha, which meant cramming in a lot of matches -- and a lot of big moments -- within a compressed time-frame. A high number of hardened full-timers and well-rounded folkstylers who decided to enter the fray ensured both age-groups wouldn’t go unnoticed in the classical discipline, even with a brutal workload. 

Some of the nation’s best high school, college, and senior-level wrestlers converged for two days in Omaha, Nebraska, to compete for Junior & U23 national titles, while battling for spots on the U.S. National Team and spots in the 2021 Senior World Team Trials. This year’s event was full of matches between top-ranked athletes, upsets, and revelations of emerging young stars. There were many outstanding performances, but only Macey Kilty and Emily Shilson, two of the brightest young stars in women’s wrestling, doubled up with national titles in both divisions.

It's Junior and U23 men's freestyle eve and the brackets are hung from the walls of FloArena for your viewing pleasure. We've viewed them, and we've got rapid reactions that we want to share with you!

There’s no World Team spot on the line this year at UWW Juniors and U23s, but wrestlers hungry for matches are still showing out. Registration picked up tenfold this week and we now have some very attractive brackets. 

No, this won’t be the typical Junior Nationals. No carrot at the end of the string, no back-and-forth about what happens next. No World tournament for winners to focus on in the immediate future. 

We’re days away from the U23 and Junior Nationals taking center stage at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on November 13-15. This event will feature a mix of elite high school, college, and Senior level wrestlers in both the Junior and U23 divisions.

When most people think of Austin DeSanto they think him blowing the roof off of Carver Hawkeye with a huge victories against people like Nick Suriano and Seth Gross. 

I’ve been saying for a while that UWW Junior and U23 registration will start to pick up and today was the day. Both tournaments got some major boosts from high profile Div I wrestlers. You can see the full list of entries HERE.