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NCAA D1 Weekly Roundup: 2024-25

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 2 Roundup: Journeymenmania

NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 2 Roundup: Journeymenmania

The world's finest collection of noteworthy happenings from the 2nd week of the 2023-24 NCAA D1 wrestling season.

Nov 11, 2024 by Andrew Spey
NCAA D1 Wrestling Week 2 Roundup: Journeymenmania

The second week of the 2024-24 NCA D1 college wrestling has come and gone. Another full week of D1 college wrestling, which you should cherish, because they fly by faster than you realize!

Box Scores | Rankings | Last Week’s Roundup

This week's D1 schedule featured a mix of tournaments, both of the bracketed and round robin variety, and out-of-conference dual meets, as is common this early in the season as teams get their match counts up and continue to figure out their lineup questions and roster battles. 

We’ll start the week as we did last week, with the Dual of the Century of the Week, because this is a pro-dual space. Duals are the lifeblood of the college season. No duals, no season. No season, no fans. No fans, fewer new wrestlers, and then the sport is forever diminished. 

The Dual of the Century, of the Week

Last week we celebrated Wyoming starting the season on Halloween with the Dual at the Daddy. This week we celebrate the Citadel for locking down a dang aircraft carrier as setting for their double dual meet.

 UVA won seven matches to spoil the party for the hometown Bulldogs, winning 24-11, while the Runnin Dawgs of Gardner-Webb were stopped in their tracks by a stout Army squad that put a 35-6 thumping G-WU.

Thing is though, an outdoor match next to the South Carolina shore in early November sometimes has a humidity problem. And so the two duals that were scheduled to take place later in the evening (Army vs the Citadel and UVA vs GWU) did not happen. 

But ya know, that’s life and that won’t stop me from celebrating that we still got do dual meets on the deck of an aircraft carrier. 

There was also a collegiate women’s dual between Presbyterian and Campbellsville, and it was a thriller. Campbellsville led by two points heading into the final match, but Ella Beam secured the 10-0 tech to score 4 team points for the Blue Hose (and no points for the Tigers) which put Presbyterian on top 23-21 (freestyle dual meet scoring is a little different but we don’t have time for that now).

Additionally, Division II power Lander triumphed over Newberry, 31-6. 

Most importantly, we got more incredible pictures like these. 

And these. And also these. And also this one. 

So I dunno, maybe next time have some sort of retractable bubble or industrial fans or have it at a different time of day? Just ideas, I have no idea. Maybe this is the only chance we get to see a college dual at such a unique venue, which is even more reason to celebrate it.

Journeymen Mania

For over two decades, Journeymen Wrestling (aka Frank Popolizio) has been a leader in pushing wrestling forward, whether through their club practices, their nationally attended camps, their high school tournaments that bring international wrestlers in from all over the globe, or their jam-packed college wrestling slate. 

From his base in the capital region of upstate New York, Frank Popolizio and his Journeymen crew can be found all over the country, and sometimes in foreign countries, promoting the sport of wrestling like few others. 

This weekend featured two Journeymen staples: on Saturday there was Wranglemania, the more boisterously named successor to the Norteasteat Duals, and on Sunday it was the Collegiate Classic, a favorite among coaches for its round-robin arrangement, guaranteeing at least three matches and similar caliber competition for all participants.

Both events were held in Bethlehem, PA, home to Lehigh University en ensconsced in the wrestling hotbed known as the Lehigh Valley. Wranglemania took place in Liberty High School and featured 13 schools competing on three mats over four time slots. 

The Collegiate Classic was held at Freedom High School, just a few minutes away from Liberty. I was at both events and am writing this roundup from the luxurious Hampton Inn and Suites in Bethlehem, which is my excuse for any typos you may find in this week's Roundup. 

Wranglemania saved the highest ranked teams for the final 4:00 PM time slot, which saw NC State defeat Campbell, Rutgers triumph over Franklin & Marshall, and Illinois put a thumping on Arizona State. You can find all the results here. 

The following day saw the venerated Collegiate Classic commence, with more than a few upsets and marquee matchups to cap off the weekend. You can find most of the results here, and the rest inside FloArena. 

Some highlights: 

  • NC State's Vince Robinson won three matches over ranked wrestlers to win the Journeymen 'Hammer' Award (i.e. the Pool A champ). His teammate Jakob Camacho did not have as good a night. I don't think the final word has been spoken on the subject just yet but don't be surprised if Robinson starts as a true freshman. 
    • Did Robinson hit an insane wrist snap for points? Yes, yes he did. 
  • Lucas Byrd is back and looks poised to make another run at the podium, winning the 133 Hammer. 
  • Luke Stanich proved his 141-pound mettle, beating two All-Americans (Kai Orine and CJ Composto) on his way to winning Pool A. Stanich was an AA as a true frosh last year at 125lbs. He wrestled unattached and preserved his redshirt, but still could challenge four-time national qualifier Malyke Hines for the postseason start. 
    • Composto also had a nice win over Ryan Jack in pool competition. 
  • To whom was the 149lb Hammer to Fall? None other than redshirt freshman Kannon Webster, who looked superb, winning 149 for the Illini, though he was challenged by UPenn's freshman Cross Wasilewski in the finals. Look out for both of them this season. 
  • Unfortunate news at 157, as Meyer Shapiro had to default out of his first bout due to injury. Jack Arrington won the Hammer in the finals over Jude Swisher, who defeated Arrington's Wolfpack teammate Ed Scott earlier in the day. Arrington is redshirting, which may cause more roster battles for NC State. 
  • Another unattached Mountain Hawk won a weight class, as two-time NCAA qualifier Max Brignola won 165, beating a very talented Arizona State freshman Nicco Ruiz in the process. 
    • Does coach Santoro pull his redshirt as well? It's definitely possible, but it's also possible Brignola plans to spend five years at Lehigh getting a graduate degree paid for with a scholarship. I'm not saying that's exactly the case, I have no inside knowledge here, just saying, it wouldn't be such a bad thing to obtain a grad degree from Lehigh with no debt and get an extra year to compete at the D1 level!
  • Don't sleep on UPenn's Nick Incontrera at 174. He beat Simon Ruiz, Luca Augustine and Danny Braunagel to win his pool. 
  • 184 had one of the wildest set of results, as Harvard's Matt Walshbeat Rutgers' Brian Soldano 14-2. Illinois' Edmond Ruththan defeated Walsh 14-3. Then Soldano and Ruth went into overtime, where Soldano and Ruth got into dueling chest wraps that eventually resulted in Soldano winning by fall. 
    • Soldano was unable to compete in the finals.
    • The 184lb Hammer was bestowed to Pitt's Reece Heller, who defeated a pair of quality Dylans (Fishback and Connell) earlier in the day. 
  • Lehigh's Michael Beard survived a very determined Zac Braunagel to become the only Mountain Hawk to win a Hammer while wearing the school's singlet. 
  • Cohlton Schultz made up for a disappointing day at Wranglemania by pinning Isaac Trumble in the 285lb finals with this thunderous maneuver. 

Around the Horn (Other Things That Happened)

  • The new look Cornhuskers hosted Utah Valley. 
    • The dual started at 157, so all the Nebraska wrestlers who dropped a weight class were first off the scale. 
      • This was no problem from Antrell Taylor (157), Lenny Pinto (174) and Silas Allred (184) who all won.
      • Utah Valley's Terrell Barraclough continued his hot streak, beating Bubba Wilson at 165. 
  • Stanford did a tour of Iowa, wrestling the Hawkeyes and Cylones in back to back days. 
    • The Cardinal defeated Iowa State 23-20.
    • The Clones were missing some key pieces of their line up, but so was Stanford, who forfeit 125. 
    • There were inspiring performances from both teams. 
      • Stanford true freshmen Aden Valencia and Grigor Cholakyan pinned their opponents. 
      • Iowa State's Christian Carroll looked excellent down at 197, defeating #13 Nik Stemmett 11-7.
  • Stanford did not fare as well against the Hawkeyes, though that too had bright spots for both teams. 
    • Stanford's Tyler Knox had one of the biggest upsets of the season so far, when he defeated NCAA finalist Drake Ayala 15-10 at 133. 
    • #21 Lorenzo Normal beat #4 Nelson Brands 4-1 in another upset for Stanford.
    • Teemer made his Hawkeye debut, majoring Chilokyan 13-3.
    • #8 Hunter Garvin had everyone on upset alert until Iowa's #2 Michael Caliendo pulled away late in the match to win a 17-12 rollercoaster.
  • TOURNEY TIME! 
    • There were more tournaments this weekend!
    • Mizzou had three champs at the Tiger Style Invite in Staley High School outside of Kansas City, Missouri. 
    • Oklahoma State had five champs at the Michigan State Open. 
      • Only one of those Cowboys was a presumed starter, #12 Tagen Jamison at 141. Cael Hughes, Jersey Robb, Cody Merrill and Konnor Doucet also won titles. 
    • There were some high profile finals at the Mountaineer Open hosted by App State.
      • Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca beat former teammate #8 Cooper Flynn, now at Minnesota. 
      • At 133 the results for their schools were reversed, as #10 Tyler Wells of Minnesota beat #13 Connor McGonagle of Virginia Tech. 
      • App State had a champ with #11 Will Miller who beat #13 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota. 
      • The Hokies had a de facto wrestle-off at heavyweight, were Big Jim Mullen defeated #12 Hunter Catka by pinfall in the second period. 

RANKINGS RANKINGS RANKINGS

Did you know we FloWrestling's conference rankings are now live for the 2024-25 season! They are, for most conferences. Check them out!

Also our official Dan Hodge Trophy Award Rankings are live! 

Who doesn't love a bunch of numbers listed in order with names next to them? Not wrestling fans, I can attest to that!

Heavy Metal Matness

Inspired by an FRL question, I made the topic of picking D1 programs and explaining what heavy metal bands they would be a feature of the roundup. I chose to do so because I like both wrestling and heavy metal music. I will continue to do so until I get bored of the idea or a deadline crunch forces me to jettison any superfluous material from this blog. 

Today I will compare the Iowa Hawkeyes to Metallica. 

Oklahoma State can lay claim to the first dynasty (or dynasties) in college wrestling, but it was Dan Gables’ Hawkeyes that provided the sport with the most crossover appeal, much as Metallica took thrash metal mainstream with the Black Album in 1991 (even if the Black Album didn't have much actual thrash music on it.) 

No other metal band commands as much clout as the first ballot Rocknroll Hall of Famers from California’s Bay Area. Ask the average person to name a heavy metal band and chances are the first (and perhaps only) response you’ll get is ‘Tallica. 

And though Penn State, Oklahoma State, and many other programs can proudly boast of their robust fan bases, the Hawkeye fan base stands alone in sheer numbers. A greater percentage of Iowa grads will be able to discuss college wrestling than from any other school. Though perhaps not as dominant in their position as Metallica is in the metal world, I'd argue the analogy still holds. 

It may also not be a coincidence that Iowa wrestling and Metallica were both highly relevant in the 90s, when I was first becoming a huge nerd about wrestling and metal.

Agree or disagree? I'd obviously enjoy geeking out about the topic with anyone who has thoughts of any kind about it. However please do remember that this is an incredibly unserious topic and to craft your contributions to the discourse accordingly. 

What Would YOU Like To See In This Blog? 

It wouldn’t exist with you so I implore you to provide feedback! 

Send all suggestions, requests, commendations and condemnations to me at [andrew.spey@flosports.tv]. I’m also usually available on Twitter (@speywrestle). 

Thanks for reading! Your time is precious and I appreciate you choosing to spend it with me!