Top 7 Upset Stories From Week 6!
Top 7 Upset Stories From Week 6!
Week 6 of NCAA wrestling had over 90 upsets. Here are the biggest stories along with all the upsets we could find.
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Even in an upset-filled season, this week saw an incredibly high number of ranked wrestlers drop matches to opponents who were either ranked below them or were unranked.
We did our best to track down every upset that happened. If you saw an upset that we missed, please email david.bray@flosports.tv to let us know. Before you get too deep in the weeds with that list, however, read about the top 8 upset stories from week 6:
1) Deakin Takes out #2 Carr, #1 Hidlay
It's a bit hard to call any Ryan Deakin win an upset given all he's accomplished in his career, but his two big wins this weekend over #2 David Carr and #1 Hayden Hidlay put him at the top of the list of big stories from the weekend.
The results themselves weren't shocking, but Deakin's dominance was eye-opening. Deakin won this tournament last year as well, but this season he looked more dominant against a deeper field. After the show Deakin put on in Vegas, he's the obvious #1 at 157.
2) Brayton Lee Wins CKLV, Upsets #5 Thomsen, #8 Zacherl, #10 Sasso
Minnesota's Brayton Lee entered the CKLV Invitational with a record of 8-1. His loss came against All-American Boo Lewallen of Oklahoma State. While Lee's results had been solid, he hadn't notched any wins over highly ranked opponents.
That all changed this weekend. Lee went on a run knocking off #8 Brock Zacherl in the quarters, beating #5 Max Thomsen in OT in the semis, and taking out #10 Sammy Sasso in the finals. While plenty of fans believed Lee could pull off a series of wins like this, now he's done it. Brayton Lee has to be considered a title contender at 149.
3) Glory Flips the Script on #4 Picc
Pat Glory lost to Nick Piccininni three times last season but got the better of him on Friday night in Princeton's dual against Oklahoma State. Glory and Picc were ranked #5 and #4 going into that bout, and while the upset isn't a big one numerically, it's big for Glory to have reversed this result.
Piccininni has long established himself as one of the top guys at this weight, so Glory knocking him off in this hostile environment suggests that the adjustments Glory made have paid off. Princeton Wrestling posted a video of Glory's thoughts after that match:
@patrick_glory_ talks about his 4th meeting with #4 nick Piccininni as well as the teams performance at Oklahoma state pic.twitter.com/syRBvGkfQG
— Princeton Wrestling (@tigerwrestling) December 7, 2019
4) Dylan Lydy Takes Out #5 Labriola, #4 Steiert
Purdue's 174-pounder Dylan Lydy knocked off the 4th and 5th ranked wrestlers in the country in consecutive matches on Saturday to take home the CKLV title.
Lydy's semifinal with Nebraska's Mikey Labriola was the 5th time the two have met. Lydy won their two meetings at the Midlands last year while Labriola had tiebreaker wins at both Big Ten's and NCAA's. Labriola won the rubber-match with a nice takedown in overtime.
In the finals, Lydy met Northern Iowa's Bryce Steiert for the first time. Another Overtime takedown gave Lydy the CKLV title. Lydy's two wins were part of a fantastic weekend for Purdue.
5) #2 Brucki, #3 Young, #6 Brands Fall in Iowa vs Princeton Dual
After Princeton's dual at Oklahoma State on Friday night, they returned home to host #1 Iowa on Sunday. Iowa won a decisive 30-9 victory, but the individual upsets made things interesting.
The highest ranked wrestler to fall was second ranked Princeton 197-pounder Pat Brucki. Iowa's #4 Jacob Warner needed third-period heroics to take out the All-American. The win for Warner evened the series between these two as Brucki had a 4-2 win at the Midlands last year.
At 157, #9 Quincy Monday took out #3 Kaleb Young. The critical action in this match came on a quick takedown in the first period. Monday avoided giving up any offensive points to Young and was able to escape from bottom, not an inevitability against Young, to hold on for the 3-2 win. This was the biggest win of Monday's career.
The biggest upset of the dual numerically came at 184 where unranked Travis Stefanik of Princeton took out 6th ranked Nelson Brands. This is Brands' first win of the season. You can read notes from the Iowa vs Princeton dual here.
6) Madness at 184: #3, #4, #5, #6 All Upset
The Travis Stefanik upset over #6 Nelson Brands is documented above. The remaining upsets happened at the CKLV Invitational. The bracket in Vegas was ripe for upsets as it contained the top 5 wrestlers in the country and 8 of the top 10.
Hunter Bolen and Taylor Venz were each responsible for two top-five upsets. Venz beat #4 Ben Darmstadt and #3 Lou DePrez while Bolen upset #5 Taylor Lujan and #3 Lou Deprez. It's important to note that Venz and DePrez actually met twice and split matches on the weekend as did Bolen and Lujan.
The final top 5 upset at this weight was the biggest numerically. Unranked Owen Webster pinned #4 Ben Darmstadt in the quarterfinals in one of the biggest upsets of the whole weekend.
7) #2, #5, #6, #7 All Take Losses at 141
The one upset that took place outside of Vegas happened in the finals of SIUE's Cougar Clash. Wisconsin's #10 Tristan Moran toppled Missouri's #5 Grant Leeth in Leeth's first event of the season. This was a nice win for Moran and our first look at a 141-pound Leeth since 2014.
The most surprising upset from Vegas came in the consolations when unranked Michael Blockhus of UNI took out #7 Tariq Wilson 6-4.
A minor numerical upset took place in the semis when #4 Mitch McKee controlled #2 Dom Demas. McKee looked solid, especially on top, in that contest.
In a consolation semifinal, #13 Ian Parker reversed a result from last year when he took out #6 Chad Red with his solid single leg. Parker had a nice day for the Cyclones and ended up placing 4th at 141.
All the Upsets
125
This weight featured 11 upsets, more than half of which came from unranked guys. Two particularly impressive unranked lightweights were Northwestern's Michael DeAugustino and Virginia Tech's Joey Prata who were 3rd and 4th at CKLV respectively.
125: #5 Pat Glory, Princeton over #4 Nicholas Piccininni, Oklahoma State
125: Joey Prata, Virginia Tech over #7 Alex Mackall, Iowa State
125: #10 Devin Schroder, Purdue over #7 Alex Mackall, Iowa State
125: Brandon Meredith, Penn State over #11 Michael Colaiocco, Penn
125: Jack Medley, Michigan over #14 Jakob Camacho, North Carolina State
125: #15 Jacob Schwarm, Northern Iowa over #14 Jakob Camacho, North Carolina State
125: Michael DeAugustino, Northwestern over #15 Jacob Schwarm, Northern Iowa
125: Brandon Courtney, Arizona State over #15 Jacob Schwarm, Northern Iowa
125: Alex Thomsen, Nebraska over #18 Jace Koelzer, Northern Colorado
125: Sam Latona, Virginia Tech over #20 Gage Curry, American
125: #24 Justin Cardani, Illinois over #23 Bryce West, Northern Illinois
133
This was another weight with a high number of unranked wrestlers making a splash. Ridge Lovett of Nebraska may have had the best performance of the group beating #10 Taylor LaMont en route to his 3rd place finish at CKLV.
133: Ridge Lovett, Nebraska over #10 Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley
133: Jack Skudlarczyk, Northern Iowa over #10 Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley
133: Louie Hayes, Virginia over #13 Anthony Madrigal, Oklahoma
133: Mosha Schwartz, Northern Colorado over #13 Anthony Madrigal, Oklahoma
133: Zach Price, South Dakota State over #16 Chance Rich, CSU Bakersfield
133: #18 Collin Gerardi, Virginia Tech over #16 Chance Rich, CSU Bakersfield
133: Todd Small, Iowa State over #20 Tim Rooney, Kent State
133: Allan Hart, Missouri over #21 Garrett Pepple, Michigan State
133: Mosha Schwartz, Northern Colorado over #23 Tye Varndell, Edinboro
141
You already read about the top dogs who fell at this weight. The big mover here was UNI's Michael Blockhus who took out #22 Cole Mattin and #7 Tariq Wilson.
141: #4 Mitch McKee, Minnesota over #2 Dom Demas, Oklahoma
141: #10 Tristan Moran, Wisconsin over #5 Grant Leeth, Missouri
141: #13 Ian Parker, Iowa State over #6 Chad Red, Nebraska
141: Michael Blockhus, Northern Iowa over #7 Tariq Wilson, North Carolina State
141: #23 Dresden Simon, Central Michigan over #12 Kyle Shoop, Lock Haven
141: Michael Blockhus, Northern Iowa over #22 Cole Mattin, Michigan
141: Matt Kazimir, Columbia over #24 Corey Shie, Army West Point
149
Most of the upsets here were the result of a CKLV weight class with a lot of parity. Two unranked guys who notched ranked wins were Wyoming's Jaron Jensen and Michigan's Ben Lamantia.
149: #8 Brock Zacherl, Clarion over #4 Collin Purinton, Nebraska
149: #7 Griffin Parriott, Purdue over #4 Collin Purinton, Nebraska
149: #6 Jarrett Degen, Iowa State over #4 Collin Purinton, Nebraska
149: #12 Brayton Lee, Minnesota over #5 Max Thomsen, Northern Iowa
149: #7 Griffin Parriott, Purdue over #5 Max Thomsen, Northern Iowa
149: #10 Sammy Sasso, Ohio State over #7 Griffin Parriott, Purdue
149: #14 Yahya Thomas, Northwestern over #7 Griffin Parriott, Purdue
149: #14 Yahya Thomas, Northwestern over #8 Brock Zacherl, Clarion
149: #12 Brayton Lee, Minnesota over #8 Brock Zacherl, Clarion
149: #12 Brayton Lee, Minnesota over #10 Sammy Sasso, Ohio State
149: Jaron Jensen, Wyoming over #19 Brent Moore, Virginia Tech
149: Ben Lamantia, Michigan over #22 Greg Gaxiola, Fresno State
157
How often do #1, #2, and #3 all lose in one weekend? That happened here. As noted above, Deakin is the clear new top man at this weight.
157: #4 Ryan Deakin, Northwestern over #1 Hayden Hidlay, North Carolina State
157: #4 Ryan Deakin, Northwestern over #2 David Carr, Iowa State
157: #9 Quincy Monday, Princeton over #3 Kaleb Young, Iowa
157: Mason Kauffman, Northern Illinois over #15 Eric Barone, Illinois
157: Logan Parks, Central Michigan over #16 Alexander Klucker, Lock Haven
157: Peyton Robb, Nebraska over #22 Jacori Teemer, Arizona State
165
Thomas Bullard had half the upsets at this weight. 165 was mostly chalk this weekend.
165: #16 Thomas Bullard, North Carolina State over #8 Andrew Fogarty, North Dakota State
165: #16 Thomas Bullard, North Carolina State over #12 Ethan Smith, Ohio State
165: #21 Troy Keller, Buffalo over #20 Nick Kiussis, West Virginia
165: Jacob Thalin, CSU Bakersfield over #23 Ricky Stamm, Hofstra
174
Dylan Lydy's big wins headlined the weight class that had more upsets than all the rest. Kimball Bastian also returned to form beating three guys ahead of him in the standings.
174: #7 Dylan Lydy, Purdue over #4 Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa
174: #7 Dylan Lydy, Purdue over #5 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska
174: #9 Devin Skatzka, Minnesota over #8 Anthony Valencia, Arizona State
174: Marcus Coleman, Iowa State over #9 Devin Skatzka, Minnesota
174: #25 Kimball Bastian, Utah Valley over #10 Hayden Hastings, Wyoming
174: #11 Kaleb Romero, Ohio State over #10 Hayden Hastings, Wyoming
174: #22 Jackson Hemauer, Fresno State over #12 Brandon Womack, Cornell
174: Carter Starocci, Penn State over #18 Ben Harvey, Army West Point
174: Jeremiah Kent, Missouri over #20 Connor Flynn, Missouri
174: Andrew McNally, Kent State over #21 Daniel Bullard, North Carolina State
174: #25 Kimball Bastian, Utah Valley over #22 Jackson Hemauer, Fresno State
174: Sage Heller, Hofstra over #23 Jacob Oliver, Edinboro
174: #25 Kimball Bastian, Utah Valley over #23 Jacob Oliver, Edinboro
184
Most of the upsets here were headline worthy and are up at the top. This was a landscape-shifting weekend at 184.
184: #10 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech over #3 Lou Deprez, Binghamton
184: #9 Taylor Venz, Nebraska over #3 Lou Deprez, Binghamton
184: Owen Webster, Minnesota over #4 Ben Darmstadt, Cornell
184: #9 Taylor Venz, Nebraska over #4 Ben Darmstadt, Cornell
184: #10 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech over #5 Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa
184: Travis Stefanik, Princeton over #6 Nelson Brands, Iowa
184: Dylan Wisman, Missouri over #20 Cameron Caffey, Michigan State
184: Darrien Roberts, Oklahoma over #25 Tate Samuelson, Wyoming
197
Eric Schulz, Jay Aiello, and Tanner Sloan were all upset multiple times. Weekends like that can happen at a tournament as tough as 197.
197: #4 Jacob Warner, Iowa over #2 Patrick Brucki, Princeton
197: #16 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma over #6 Eric Schultz, Nebraska
197: #10 Thomas Lane, Cal Poly over #6 Eric Schultz, Nebraska
197: Greg Bulsak, Clarion over #9 Jay Aiello, Virginia
197: Jacob Seely, Northern Colorado over #9 Jay Aiello, Virginia
197: #19 Christian Brunner, Purdue over #9 Jay Aiello, Virginia
197: Greg Bulsak, Clarion over #11 Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State
197: #16 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma over #11 Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State
197: Jaron Smith, Maryland over #13 Jordan Pagano, Rutgers
197: Greg Bulsak, Clarion over #15 Tanner Orndorff, Utah Valley
197: #19 Christian Brunner, Purdue over #16 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma
197: Benjamin Smith, Cleveland State over #18 Sam Schuyler, Buffalo
285
There was some shifting here among the top 6 as well as a handful of upsets in the bottom half of the rankings. Notably, Gannon Gremmel had two upsets against the two guys ranked directly in front of him.
285: #5 Tanner Hall, Arizona State over #4 Tate Orndorff, Utah Valley
285: #6 Mason Parris, Michigan over #5 Tanner Hall, Arizona State
285: #17 Carter Isley, Northern Iowa over #12 Christian Lance, Nebraska
285: #14 Gannon Gremmel, Iowa State over #12 Christian Lance, Nebraska
285: #19 John Borst, Virginia Tech over #13 Brian Andrews, Wyoming
285: #14 Gannon Gremmel, Iowa State over #13 Brian Andrews, Wyoming
285: Dalton Robertson, Northern Colorado over #20 Jon Spaulding, Edinboro
285: Max Ihry, Northern Illinois over #21 Luke Luffman, Illinois