Notable nuggets of news from the 2015-16 College Wrestling Season
FEBRUARY
February 4
The whole wacky Pac-12 stayed wacky after Oregon State, which fell out of the rankings after losing to Arizona State, upended No. 22 Stanford 21-13. Rutgers continued its weird season by losing to unranked Wisconsin 18-15. It was the second unranked team Rutgers had lost to during the season despite beating numerous more.
February 5
Top-ranked Penn State sold out the Bryce Jordan Center once again and topped No. 9 Ohio State 24-14. Returning NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State upended fourth-ranked Nico Megaludis at 125 pounds, but Penn State rolled, winning six of ten and getting bonus points at 149 and 197 pounds. The crowd was the second-largest in Penn State history with 15,983 in attendance. Bedlam the second time around was a little closer as No. 4 Oklahoma State stopped rival and seventh-ranked Oklahoma 26-11. Sooner 125-pounder Ryan Millhof upset fifth-ranked Eddie Klimara at 125 pounds while 174-pounder Matt Reed beat All-American Kyle Crutchmer of Oklahoma State 3-2.
In the Southern Conference, Appalachian State beats No. 25 Chattanooga 22-15 to force a three-way tie for the conference lead.
February 6
Austin Rose's upset fall over nationally-ranked Connor Brennan at 165 pounds lifted Drexel to an exciting 21-14 win over Rider. With Drexel leading 15-14, Rose trailed 4-3 with 11 seconds left and scored the go-ahead-takedown and then the fall for the win. High drama at the DAC in Philly. The Pac-12 remained wacky, with CSU Bakersfield beating Oregon State 21-20 on the second criteria.
February 7
Brooks Black scored the needed fall over Northwestern's Conan Jennings at 285 pounds to lift Illinois past undermanned but pesky Northwestern 25-24. Illinois trailed 24-19 after Northwestern's Jacob Berkowitz pinned Andre Lee at 197, then Black stepped to the mat and got the fall in the first period.
February 11
Oregon State – yeah, this whole Pac-12 mess – stuffed visiting Oklahoma 22-12. The Sooners were ranked 7th in the nation at the time, throwing a wrench into the anticipated matchups at the NWCA National Duals Championship Series. The Beavers got wins from Cody Crawford and Amar Dhesi at 197 and 285 to cement the win. Jack Hathaway's fall at 141 pounds gave Oregon State some much-needed bonus points early in the dual.
February 12
In one of the most-anticipated dual meets in ACC wrestling history, Virginia Tech stopped N.C. State's 21-match win streak and won the ACC regular-season title. Key wins for the Hokies were come-from behind wins by Dennis Gustafson and Sal Mastriani's and Zack Zavatsky's 9-5 win over Pete Renda at 184 pounds.
February 14
Mat Talk Online founder Jason Bryant finally attended an AC/DC concert. After having tickets in 1996 only to see that show canceled, it was a memorable Valentine's Day at the XCel Energy Center in St. Paul.
But the bigger news … the NWCA Division I Coaches Poll was tallied and the National Duals pairings were released. Penn State hosts Oklahoma State in what's deemed the “National Dual Championship” dual, while undefeated Iowa hosts once-beaten N.C. State. Virginia Tech is unhappy with not getting a shot at Iowa after beating N.C. State two days earlier. National drama set to ensue.
February 17
Virginia Tech coach Kevin Dresser lights up the NWCA and Iowa in an episode of Inside Virginia Tech Wrestling, produced here by the Mat Talk Podcast Network. Message boards nationwide implode.
February 19
Old Dominion becomes the only Division I team in the nation to win two duals by criteria after beating Northern Illinois 20-19. The win was also Old Dominion's 500th as a program and coach Steve Martin's 137th at ODU, moving him into second place all-time behind program founder Pete Robinson. In the first dual of the National Duals Series, Minnesota spanks injury-riddled Iowa State 30-10. Joey Ward of North Carolina hands Oklahoma State's Dean Heil his first loss of the season in Oklahoma State's 33-6 win over the Tar Heels.
February 20
Drexel beats Penn 23-16 to win the Cheesesteak Trophy. Rutgers beat Lehigh 18-15 at the National Duals.
February 21
Appalachian State, the SoCon representative in the National Duals, goes on the road and beats Indiana 21-13. Duke knocks off No. 23 Purdue 28-18, Penn State wins the over Oklahoma State 29-18 to win the National Duals, Virginia Tech takes out Michigan 24-11.
February 22
The final dual meet of the Division I season sees N.C. State go to Carver-Hawkeye and beat Iowa 21-17. Key match came at 184 where Pete Renda knocked off Sam Brooks.
JANUARY
January 2
Penn State won its sixth consecutive Southern Scuffle title, outdistancing second-place Oklahoma State. The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 1, came away with an impressive five champions — Nico Megaludis at 125, Zain Retherford at 149, Jason Nolf at 157, Bo Nickal at 174 and Morgan McIntosh at 197 pounds. Each Penn State champion defeated an All-American en route to the finals except McIntosh. Cornell's Nahshon Garrett would win the title at 133 pounds. His semifinal victory by injury default over Oklahoma State's Kaid Brock would prove damaging for Oklahoma State's championship hopes later this season as Brock would later discover massive ligament damage in his knee and would be out for the rest of the season. It was also the debut of North Carolina's two-time All-American Evan Henderson up at 149 pounds. Henderson reached the finals, falling to Retherford. Oklahoma State's Dean Heil emerged as the champion at 141 pounds, beating Stanford's Joey McKenna. Mean Dean has solidified himself as the No. 1 (for now) at this extremely volatile weight.
January 3
Ohio State officially trotted out true freshman Myles Martin at 174 pounds in the Buckeyes' 22-17 win over No. 11 Illinois. Bloomsburg captured its first win of the year, a 20-18 dual meet victory over VMI in a tri-meet at Hofstra. Three-time Division II champion Joey Davis of Notre Dame College returned to the Falcons lineup with a pair of victories at 184 pounds in duals against LIU Post and UNC Pembroke. Davis remains undefeated in his college career. Augsburg got a pin from returning 285-pound Division III champion Donny Longendyke to top Division II Augustana (S.D.) 25-21.
January 6
Eastern Michigan defeated Northern Iowa 22-14 in MAC competition. It marked the first time in school history Eastern Michigan had beaten UNI. Anthony Abro's fall at 197 pounds over Jared Bartel sealed the win for the Eagles.
Anderson University, a Division II program in Anderson, S.C., announced it would discontinue wrestling at the end of this season. The school recently lost head coach Dock Kelly as he's starting a new program at NAIA Lourdes in Ohio. School cited lack of conference affiliation as the primary rationale, even though only four of the 20 Division II conferences officially sponsor wrestling.
January 9
In one of the busiest weekends of the season, with over 200 duals completed, champions were crowned at the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals and the Virginia Duals. In Virginia, No. 18 Iowa State upended No. 5 Virginia Tech 16-14 in the finals of the National College Division, while Kutztown defeated Minnesota State Moorhead 32-3 in the American College Division. In Fort Wayne, Notre Dame College, Wartburg, Grand View, Clackamas and King all won their respective divisions at “Mat Mayhem.” Wartburg won its sixth straight, Grand View its fifth. In the Big Ten, Michigan topped Ohio State 21-11. The return of Hunter Stieber to the Buckeye lineup fell short as he lost to Alec Pantaleo 5-3 at 149 pounds.
January 10
In dual meet action in the Big Ten, Indiana's Nate Jackson used an early counter to get a lead and held off No. 1 Bo Nickal in Penn State's 34-8 victory over the Hoosiers. In a non-conference dual, Missouri ran its win streak to 35 with an 18-17 victory over Cornell. Two-time All-American J'Den Cox bumped up to heavyweight and earned a technical fall to give the Tigers the dual-winning victory. In the MAC, No. 16 Central Michigan edged No. 21 Ohio 16-15 on criteria.
January 12
In the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll, Appalachian State entered the rankings at No. 25, the first time in school history the Mountaineers have been nationally-ranked in wrestling.
January 14
Just a week after Iowa State knocked off Virginia Tech to win the Virginia Duals, Arizona State upended the 14th-ranked Cyclones 23-18 in Tempe.
January 15
Kent State continued its roll by knocking off rival No. 21 Ohio 20-15. Campbell ended a 21-match dual meet losing streak by defeating VMI 24-15. The Camels hadn't won a dual meet since defeating SIU-Edwardsville on Feb. 19, 2014.
January 16
Cornell won its 70th consecutive Ivy League dual with a 30-13 win over Brown in Ithaca. The Big Red haven't been defeated in Ivy League competition in 14 years.
January 17
Freestyle world champion Kyle Snyder of Ohio State made his 2015-16 season debut as he topped Nebraska's Collin Jensen by major decision at heavyweight to lift the 11th-ranked Buckeyes past the seventh-ranked Huskers 21-17. Minnesota, unranked for the first time since early in the J Robinson era, upended sixth-ranked Rutgers 17-16 in Minneapolis. Tommy Thorn knocked off returning All-American Anthony Ashnault at 141 pounds to key the Gopher victory.
January 22
No. 5 Oklahoma State ended No. 4 Missouri's 37-match dual meet win streak with a 23-9 victory at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Tigers were 9-0 this season and ended last season 24-0. Brian Smith's squad hadn't lost a dual since they dropped a 28-6 dual in Stillwater to the Cowboys on January 31, 2014.
Dickinson State was the last college team to wrestle a dual, splitting matches with Montana State-Northern and Great Falls. The NAIA Blue Hawks wrestle a one-semester schedule.
January 23
Penn State freshman Jason Nolf ended Isaiah Martinez's unbeaten streak with a second-period fall at 157 pounds in the top-ranked Nittany Lions' 30-15 win over Illinois. Martinez, the returning NCAA champion, was unbeaten as a freshman. Another big fall came from 174-pounder Bo Nickal, who pinned second ranked Zac Brunson. In EIWA action, Lehigh topped short-handed Cornell 25-13. Cornell wrestled without top-ranked 133-pounder Nahshon Garrett and returning NCAA champion Gabe Dean at 184 pounds. The win improved Lehigh to 11-1.
Wartburg won its 185th straight Iowa Conference dual with three wins at the IIAC Duals. The Knights posted their sixth and seventh shutouts of the season as they rolled to wins over Dubuque (36-9), Buena Vista (50-0) and Central (44-0).
Roger Williams University improved to 18-1 on the season by winning the New England Wrestling Association Duals hosted at Bridgewater State. The Hawks topped rival Johnson & Wales 27-8 in the final.
January 24
Iowa topped Nebraska 21-11 at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb., in front of 3,952 fans, the largest in Husker history. The second-ranked Hawkeyes picked up a top five victory from Brandon Sorensen over Jake Sueflohn 6-5 at 149 pounds, while Nebraska's T.J. Dudley pinned Sam Brooks in a battle of highly-ranked 184-pounders.
In Division II, unbeaten Joey Davis of Notre Dame College improved to 118-0 on his career and set the school record for career wins. Notre Dame College defeated Lake Erie 32-8.
January 25
In a rare Monday dual, No. 3 N.C. State remained undefeated by blasting in-state rival and No. 14 North Carolina 28-8. The Wolfpack improved to 18-0 and is one of three teams still unbeaten in Division I wrestling. N.C. State is currently tied with Roger Williams University for the most wins across the three NCAA divisions.
January 26
Gardner-Webb earned the first win in program history over Appalachian State and in the process earned the school's first win over a Top 25 program in school history. The Runnin' Bulldogs topped the Mountaineers 22-18 and throwing a real wrench into the Southern Conference race.
January 29
Arizona State kept the Pac-12 Conference standings in a lurch, knocking off No. 20 Oregon State 24-12. Iowa smashed Minnesota 34-6 in the most one-sided Hawkeye win since the Hawkeyes beat the Gophers 44-2 in 1991-92.
DECEMBER
December 2
Eastern Michigan shut out Michigan State 34-0. It was one of five shutouts during the day in all of college wrestling, but the only one involving Division I programs. Other schools registering 10 victories in duals on December 2 were Coe, Concordia-Moorhead, Johnson & Wales and Mary.
December 5
Missouri won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Three-time All-American Nahshon Garrett of Cornell rallied to beat returning NCAA champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma 14-9 at 133 pounds.
December 6
No. 13 North Carolina State upended No. 4 Oklahoma State in Gallagher-Iba Arena 19-15. The win was the first in school history for the Wolfpack over the Cowboys. Two-time NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski clinched the dual with a victory over All-American heavyweight Austin Marsden at 285 pounds.
December 10
No. 2 Iowa rolled past visiting No. 11 Rutgers 29-6 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Key wins for Iowa were registered by 157-pounder Edwin Cooper over Richie Lewis and by heavyweight Sam Stoll, who defeated nationally-ranked Billy Smith in sudden victory.
December 11
Indiana won its first Big Ten road dual since 2010 and defeated Minnesota for the first time since 1968 with a 19-18 criteria win at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. Alonzo Sheppard's fall at 133 pounds over Sam Brancale was key for the Hoosiers, as was Luke Blanton's upset over Jake Short at 149 pounds.
December 12
Parity rears its head again in the Big Ten as No. 11 Rutgers knocked off No. 4 Nebraska 17-16 on criteria in New Brunswick, N.J. Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault avenged two 2014-15 losses to Anthony Abidin by registering a major decision at 141 pounds. Nick Gravina's upset win over All-American T.J. Dudley at 184 pounds was one of two major upsets registered on the day. The other came at 157 pounds as Rutgers' Richie Lewis knocked off Tyler Berger.
Sacramento City College won its third California Community College championship, outdistancing Fresno City, Cerritos and Palomar. The title was the second in three years for coach Dave Pacheco.
December 13
Oklahoma State walloped rival Oklahoma 37-3 in the first of two Bedlam duals this season. The early dagger came at 133 pounds where true freshman Kaid Brock made his Cowboy debut and promptly pinned returning NCAA champion Cody Brewer in 42 seconds. Things went from bad to worse for the Sooners as the Cowboys would win the first eight weights and the Sooners wouldn't score their first takedown until 197 pounds.
Missouri beat its second ranked team in as many days from the state of Ohio. Coach Brian Smith's team won its 32nd straight dual meet en route to a 27-9 win over No. 21 Ohio University. The big action came at 197 pounds where two-time All-American and 2014 NCAA champion J'Den Cox of Missouri was disqualified after a slam out of bounds against Phil Wellington.
In Division III, Ursinus coach Bill Racich won his 500th dual as a head coach as the Bears topped Penn College and SUNY-Sullivan in a quad.
December 16
Doane College remained unbeaten in the NAIA with a 25-24 criteria victory over Hastings. Doane prevailed on the first criteria, most individual matches won.
December 17
No. 3 N.C. State moved to 11-0 with a 26-15 win over No. 24 Old Dominion. The Wolfpack split the 10 matches, but four of their five victories were bonus points. Thomas Gantt earned a technical fall bumping up to 165 pounds, Nick Gwiazdowski and Sean Fausz earned falls and Chad Pyke won by disqualification. The match of the night came at 141 pounds as a pair of All-Americans met. ODU's Chris Mecate topped N.C. State's Kevin Jack 5-3 in sudden victory.
CSU Bakersfield improved to 4-2 with a 22-16 win over Stanford. The Roadrunners exploited the absence of highly-ranked Joey McKenna at 141 pounds as Ian Nickell teched Stanford's Eric Kramer. It was CSU Bakersfield's first road win over Stanford since 2004.
In the NAIA, Davenport won its first varsity match in school history with a 53-0 win over Calumet College of St. Joseph. Davenport started its program in 2014-15 as a club team, but quickly moved into NAIA competition this season.
December 20
No. 13 Lehigh thumped No. 8 Oklahoma in Norman 30-7. While Cody Brewer topped Lehigh's Mason Beckman by major decision at 133 pounds, Lehigh took eight out of ten bouts. Missouri won its 33rd straight dual with a 35-12 win over Kent State.
Prior to the Desert Duals in Las Vegas, Pacific University and Delaware Valley College both had wrestlers injured on the Las Vegas strip when a driver intentionally crashed into pedestrians on the strip. No serious injuries were reported from the members of both teams, but they both pulled out of the event.
December 21
George Mason topped Davidson 31-12 in a trophy dual. Mason would take the first battle for the Byrd-Moseley Cup. The trophy dual is for what the schools dubbed the “Atlantic 10 Dual Meet Championship.” For wrestling, George Mason competes in the EWL and Davidson in the Southern Conference, but the two schools are all-sports members of the Atlantic 10 and are the only two teams in the conference with wrestling.
December 30
Iowa edged Nebraska to win the 53rd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University. Iowa champions included Thomas Gilman at 125 pounds, Brandon Sorensen at 149 pounds and Nathan Burak at 197 pounds. Grand View junior Andrew Long returned to the finals for the first time since 2009. The embattled two-time Division I All-American became the first NAIA wrestler to win the championship since Montana State-Northern's Emmett Willson won in 2003. Old Dominion's Emilio Saavedra became just the second Monarch to win a Midlands title in school history.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
NOVEMBER
November 1
Oklahoma's returning NCAA champion Cody Brewer bumps up to 141 pounds and knocks off All-American Dean Heil from Oklahoma State in a wild 13-12 match that featured an experimental three-point takedown at the NWCA All-Star Classic in Atlanta. Arizona State's Blake Stauffer, Virginia Tech's Ty Walz and Ohio State's Nathan Tomasello defeated opponents who were in the NCAA finals the year prior. In Tomasello's case, it was West Virgina's Zeke Moisey, the opponent he beat in the NCAA 125-pound Division I finals. Walz and Virginia Tech's Zach Epperly picked up the school's first win at the All-Star Classic, as did Duke's Conner Hartmann.
Provisional Division I member Grand Canyon defeated Campbell 21-16 in a dual meet in Buies Creek, N.C. What's notable about the dual is Campbell, which was postseason ineligible in 2015, didn't forfeit any weights.
Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault defeated Franklin & Marshall's Rick Durso 7-1 at 141 pounds in a matchup of returning All-Americans. Ashnault was eighth in 2015, while Durso finished eighth in 2014. Rutgers won the dual 47-0.
November 2
Stanford tops Cal Poly 35-6 in San Luis Obispo. The Cardinal's Joey McKenna makes his official collegiate debut, which ends up being a fall in 67 seconds. Just two days into November, and this dual is the first Division I dual of the year that's actually part of a conference schedule.
November 3
Millikin University, an NCAA Division III school in Illinois, returned to varsity competition this season and the Big Blue opened up its 2015-16 campaign with a 49-0 win over NAIA Hannibal-LaGrange.
November 6
No. 7 Lehigh opened up its regular season with a 23-12 victory over host Bucknell in the EIWA opener for both teams. Bucknell's Paul Petrov and Grim Gonzalez beat All-Americans Darian Cruz (125) and Mason Beckman (133), but Lehigh was too strong up top and came away with the victory. Nathaniel Brown, John Bolich and Max Wessell closed out the dual with three straight wins for the Mountain Hawks. … Virginia earned the first “upset” in dual meet competition as the Cavaliers headed to Fargo, N.D. and topped North Dakota State 24-15.
November 7
Two duals between nationally-ranked teams took place on Saturday. In Blacksburg, Va., No. 6 Virginia Tech rolled past No. 13 Iowa State 32-3. True freshman David McFadden's debut was a successful one at 165 pounds. The New Jersey native upended sixth-ranked Tanner Weatherman 4-3. … At the Eastern Michigan Duals, No. 22 Ohio beat No. 24 Edinboro 22-12.
Also at Eastern Michigan, two-time Division III champion Riley Lefever of Wabash won the EMU Open at 184 pounds and defeated Ohio State's Division I All-American Kenny Courts en route to the title.
November 8
Stanford freshman Joey McKenna won the Hokie Open in Blacksburg, upending top-ranked and two-time All-American Evan Henderson of North Carolina 4-3 in the finals at 141 pounds. Henderson is the first No. 1 to lose this season, but he won't be the last. Also at the Hokie Open, Duke's Jake Faust knocked off All-American Jim Wilson of Stanford 6-2 in the finals at 165 pounds. He was one of three Blue Devils to win championships.
No. 21 West Virginia opened up with three wins, defeating Arizona State, Drexel and Campbell.
November 12
Lycoming coach Roger Crebs wins his 350th match as a head coach as Lycoming defeated McDaniel 28-15. Crebs has led the Warriors for 23 years and has a career record of 350-118-2. … Tim Fader's new coaching era officially began at UW-Eau Claire. The Blugolds defeated St. Olaf 33-19 for Fader's first win at UWEC. … West Liberty began the Mitch Smith era with a 20-13 win over Division III Waynesburg. Smith, previously the head coach at Alderson-Broaddus, was a two-time All-American for the Hilltoppers as a wrestler.
November 14
Iowa crushed the NCAA attendance mark with an outdoor dual at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes defeated No. 1 Oklahoma State 18-16 in front of 42,287 fans on a beautiful fall day.
November 15
No. 2 Penn State topped No. 6 Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum. Virginia Tech set a home attendance record with over 5,000 in attendance. The Nittany Lions beat the Hokies 21-15 and would ascend to No. 1 in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll released on Tuesday. At 141 pounds, freshman Solomon Chishko of Virginia Tech knocked off All-American Jimmy Gulibon, who was ranked as high as No. 1 in some rankings.
November 20
Second-year Division III program Huntingdon (Ala.) won its first dual in school history, defeating host Southern Virginia 33-18 in Buena Vista, Va.
November 21
Chasen Tolbert's victory at 125 pounds over Ronnie Bresser proved to be the upset that swung things in the direction of Utah Valley as the Wolverines upset No. 18 Oregon State 20-19.
In Division III, first-year Greensboro College won the first three matches in school history as the Pride competed at the Southern Virginia Duals in Buena Vista, Va. Coach Erik Wince recently appeared on The Ice Hour, a Division III wrestling podcast. Greensboro defeated Huntingdon, Southern Virginia and Hampden-Sydney College, another first-year program.
November 22
No. 14 Oklahoma upended No. 3 Michigan 23-12 in Ann Arbor. One of the key victories for the Sooners came at 149 pounds where true freshman Davion Jeffries knocked off Alec Pantaleo 4-3.
Joey McKenna of Stanford continued his solid early-season tear by knocking off Penn State's Jimmy Gulibon 7-3 at 141 pounds of Penn State's 31-12 win over the Cardinal. It's the second returning All-American McKenna has beaten already this season.
November 25
In Division II, No. 12 Cal Baptist upended No. 4 Mercyhurst 23-18. Cal Baptist trailed 18-14 with three weights to go, but the Lancers swept the final three weights, highlighted by Joe Fagiano's 7-4 win over Andy Welton at 285 pounds. Yes, that Joe Fagiano who had previous stops at Hofstra and Indiana.
November 29
The fourth annual Grapple at the Garden saw No. 14 Rutgers upend No. 7 Cornell 21-13, giving the Scarlet Knights the third win in school history over the Big Red. A key bonus-point victory came at 141 pounds as Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers pinned Dylan Realbuto. Fifth-ranked Nebraska also topped Cornell. The Rutgers win vaulted the 9-1 Scarlet Knights into the Top 10 of the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll for the first time this season.
Drexel's Matt Cimato took home Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Grapple at the Garden. Ranked 20th, Cimato defeated two-time All-American and 2014 NCAA Division I champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern at 149 pounds, a key part of Drexel's 21-20 criteria win over the Wildcats.
OCTOBER
October 10
College practices begin nationwide.
October 13
The Oregonian's Ken Goe pens an opinion piece highlighting the University of Oregon's continually increasing “figure” to the Save Oregon Wrestling group, which now stands at $75 million. That won't even guarantee the school would even accept it to restart wrestling.
October 15
Reno Tournament of Champions founder Ross Aguiar was killed in a car accident. Aguiar built one of the first high school super tournaments in Reno, which also has fielded a competitive college tournament.
October 16
Duke University's Conner Hartmann accepts an invitation to the NWCA All-Star Classic at 197 pounds. Hartmann becomes Duke's first-ever participant in the event, which took place on November 1 at McCamish Pavilion on the campus of Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga.
October 20
ESPN airs 30 for 30 documentary titled “The Prince of Pennsylvania,” which chronicles the murder of World and Olympic champion Dave Schultz.
October 21
The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame unveiled a mural featuring Gary Kurdelmeier, Dr. Norman Borlaug, Harold Nichols and Dan Gable in Cresco, Iowa.
Longtime wrestling announcer Sandy Stevens announced on her Facebook page she, per the NCAA, would not be announcing the 2016 NCAA Division I Championships in New York. Stevens was part of 34 NCAA Division I championships.
October 24
The National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Dan Gable Museum in Waterloo, Iowa hosted the Dan Gable Museum Gala featuring Dan Gable, U.S. Women's National Team coach Terry Steiner and three-time women's world champion Adeline Gray.
October 25
Flowrestling reported Penn State freshman heavyweight Nick Nevills would be out of action for an extended period of time, potentially missing the entire season.
October 26
Northwestern head coach Drew Pariano was relieved of his duties as head wrestling coach just days before the official start of competition. Matt Storniolo was named interim head coach.
October 27
Manchester University, a Division III school in Indiana, announced Kevin Lake, a 1988 graduate of Manchester, is the program's new head coach. Lake replaces Matt Burlingame, who stepped down in August. Lake was previously the program director at Beat The Streets Los Angeles.
Oklahoma State starts the year ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Cowboys collected 10 of the possible 12 first-place votes. The program is looking for its 35th national title.
October 28
Menlo College wins the first dual meet of the year involving a four-year institution as the NAIA school topped Skyline, a junior college in California. NOTE: Menlo is kicking off the winter sports season, while Skyline and other California Community Colleges are in the middle of their fall season.
Maryville University begins the year ranked No. 1 in Division II by D2wrestle.com.
October 29
Wartburg starts the year ranked No. 1 in Division III.
