After last weekend was filled with upsets, the men’s college wrestling world settled, with favorites mostly holding serve, the major exception being the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who earned their first win over No. 6 Minnesota in the program's history in the Big Ten.
Here’s a recap of the action from this weekend ahead of the nation’s top two teams in the Big Ten and the country — No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State — meeting on Friday:
Penn State, Ohio State stay undefeated ahead of spotlight dual
Both No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State met challenges ahead of their dual in Happy Valley.
The Nittany Lions were the 38-3 winners over No. 10 Michigan, winning the first nine matches of the night. No. 1 Luke Lilledahl kicked off the momentum with a 21-5 win over No. 23 Diego Sotelo in the 125-pound opening bout, while No. 4 Marcus Blaze won his 133-pound match by a 17-2 margin over Michigan’s Gauge Botero.
In the closest match of the night, Nate Desmond’s sudden-victory takedown gave him an 8-5 win over No. 26 Dylan Ragusin at 141 pounds. No. 1 Shayne Van Ness was a 9-1 major winner over No. 13 Lachlan McNeil, and No. 4 PJ Duke took a high-scoring 12-10 decision over No. 13 Cameron Catrabone, giving the Nittany Lions a 20-0 halftime lead.
Out of the break, back-to-back tech falls from No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink and No. 1 Levi Haines gave Penn State 30 team total points after just seven matches. No. 1 Rocco Welsh then won the 184-pound bout over No. 7 Brock Mantanona 8-1, and No. 1 Josh Barr added one more tech fall, 19-4, over No. 20 Hayden Walters. The lone Michigan winner was No. 5 Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight, who beat Penn State’s No. 12 Cole Mirasola, 4-1.
The Buckeyes, meanwhile, hosted No. 8 Iowa in Columbus on Senior Night and took down the Hawks definitively, 24-9. Ohio State took seven of ten matches, headlined by two-time NCAA champion Jesse Mendez' 21-3 tech fall over Kale Peterson. The win gave Ohio State its first undefeated season in the Covelli Center in program history. The dual started at 157 pounds, and Iowa won the first three matches by decision, including a 2-1 decision win by No. 3 Patrick Kennedy over No. 5 Carson Khachla in just one of two matches featuring two All-Americans.
From there, the Buckeyes didn’t lose a match. No. 7 Dylan Fishback won the 184-pound match with a sudden-victory takedown over Gabe Arnold to give Ohio State its first team points of the night. No. 10 Luke Geog earned a 13-4 major-decision win over Brody Sampson at 197 pounds, and No. 3 Nick Feldman won the heavyweight match over No. 8 Ken Keuter, 3-2.
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When the dual transitioned to finish at the lower weights, Ohio State’s dominance continued. No. 2 Nic Bouzakis beat No. 6 Dean Peterson 9-5 at 125, and No. 2 Ben Davino beat No. 9 Draye Ayala 4-2 at 133, and Mendez finished off the dual by securing his final home victory to continue Ohio State's best start in program history.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 5 Nebraska was dominant on Senior Day against Northwestern with a 47-0 win, while Rutgers made a statement, taking down the No. 6 Gophers.
The Scarlet Knights handled business 23-15 in large part thanks to a pin from 2025 NCAA qualifier No. 16 Remy Cotton over No. 25 Gavin Nelson of Minnesota in sudden victory at 197 pounds. Cotton now moves to 12-4 on the year and will have No. 23 Kael Wisler of Michigan State next. Former Big Ten champion Dylan Shawver also collected bonus points against the Gophers at 133 pounds as he majored Brandon Morvari of Minnesota 12-2, and 2025 Round of 12 finisher Lenny Pinto similarly notched four team points with his 18-9 win over Ethan Riddle at 174 pounds.
"Remy Cotton has clinched it for Rutgers!"
— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling)
What a moment last night at Jersey Mike's Arena! |
No. 28 Ayden Smith, No. 29 Andrew Clark and No. 29 Anthony White also recorded Ws in the team win at 125, 149 and 157 pounds. Smith win over No. 10 Jore Volk is also notable as it gave Smith his first win over an All-American in his collegiate career.
All eyes in the conference are on next week’s season-defining dual between Penn State and Ohio State.
Virginia Tech wins Commonwealth Clash, headlining ACC results
No. 7 Virginia Tech earned a 32-7 victory at Virginia in the in-state rivalry, its 14th straight win over the Cavaliers in the series. No. 3 Eddie Ventresca and No. 6 Aaron Seidel got the night started with tech fall wins over unranked Virginia opposition, but Gable Porter gave the Hoos a 141-pound major win over Drew Gorman and Wynton Denkins upset No. 6 Collin Gaj at 149 pounds, 3-2.
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Virginia Tech rattled off six straight wins from there, beginning with a 157-pound win by No. 16 Ethen Miller over No. 30 Colton Washleski in tiebreakers. Mac Church beat Michael Murphy by decision, and No. 31 Sergio Desiante beat No. 27 Nick Hamilton by major decision, 15-4, at 174 pounds.
No. 32 Jaden Bullock won an 11-2 major decision over Jack Lesher at 184 pounds, No. 14 Sonny Sasso won 9-1 over Steven Burrell Jr. and No. 17 Jimmy Mullen finished the night with a 14-6 heavyweight major win over Brenan Morgan.
𝐆𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞.
— Virginia Tech Wrestling (@HokiesWrestling)
Hokies take the dub in Charlottesville. 🦃
No. 8 NC State beat No. 12 Pittsburgh on the road, 18-13, behind a victory by No. 2 Isaac Trumble over No. 15 Dayton Pitzer at heavyweight, 5-2. During the dual, Pitt’s No. 18 Luca Augustine earned a sudden-victory win over No. 6 Matty Singleton in a 174-pound upset.
Oklahoma State wins in non-conference bout, Northern Iowa takes Big 12 conference dual
No. 3 Oklahoma State was dominant when it welcomed Little Rock to Stillwater, winning 41-6. The Cowboys earned three falls and four tech falls in the blowout win, and No. 2 LaDarion Lockett beat Little Rock’s No. 5 Matt Bianchi, 7-2, in the lone matchup of ranked wrestlers.
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In a Big 12 conference dual, No. 19 Northern Iowa was a 19-13 winner against No. 14 South Dakota State. Top Northern Iowa wrestler No. 6 Ryder Downey was a 165-pound winner of Jacob Herm, 7-1, and Adam Ahredsen clinched the dual for the Panthers by beating No. 25 Luke Rasmussen, 5-3, at heavyweight.
No. 20 Missouri earned a road upset at No. 16 West Virginia, 26-13, behind a fall at 174 pounds from No. 10 Cam Steed over No. 15 Brody Conley. No. 18 Oklahoma won its second straight dual by beating Arizona State, 31-9.
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