Jason Bryant’s College Wrestling Wrap Sheet is a look at five topics from the world of college wrestling with highlights, things you know and things you don’t. Here’s the five for January 14, 2022.
Had a good night isolated in quarantine during wrestling season. This sadly meant no Virginia Duals for me, but did mean a great night of watching wrestling on BTN. Dual to keep an eye on Saturday is Nebraska-Kearney looking to snap Grand View's 110-match win streak and the Portillo twins slated to wrestle one another in the dual's final match at 125 pounds. On to the wrap sheet. (And I'm feeling somewhat okay.)
That team up north stops that school down south
A poetic set of overtime scrambles highlighted Myles Amine’s win over Kaleb Romero at 184 pounds and was one of the numerous highlights for third-ranked Michigan in the Wolverines’ 39-8 win over seventh-ranked Ohio State in the Covelli Center in Columbus. There were no upsets in terms of rankings, but several highlight matches, including Amine’s, made this a premiere Friday matchup on Big Ten Network. Nick Suriano was super solid in majoring Malik Heinselman 11-3 to kick things off at 125 pounds. Logan Massa broke open a tight match with some vicious top work in the third period and ended up pulling away from Ethan Smith 10-5 at 174 pounds, Massa’s best win since coming back to the Wolverine lineup. At 184, Amine was in several times on Romero’s legs, but the stingy Buckeye held off each attack and countered well enough to put Amine into several positions that could have ended the match late in the third or in sudden victory. Monstrous Mason Parris destroyed worlds, pinning All-American Tate Orndorff in the first period.
Gophers snap Huskers, end streak
Pivotal wins by Jake Gliva at 133 pounds Brayton Lee at 157 pounds lifted No. 14 Minnesota past No. 15 Nebraska at Maturi Pavilion on the back end of Big Ten Network’s doubleheader. Nebraska’s Mikey Labriola continued to play with fire, giving up two late to tie his bout with Bailee O’Reilly, but Labriola quickly reversed the situation, picking up two and two and came away with a 9-5 win at 174 pounds. It was an indication of the type of matches we’d see. Eric Schultz got past a game Michial Foy 2-1 at 197 pounds before another world-destroying heavyweight, Gable Steveson, ran up an 18-6 major decision over Christian Lance at heavyweight. At 133 pounds, Gliva topped Alex Thomsen 8-3, using a big six-point sequence midway through the bout to break open a tight dual. Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett kept Nebraska in a position to win with a gritty 7-2 win over Michael Blockhus at 149 pounds. With Minnesota leading 16-13 heading into the final bout of the dual, Lee’s third period takedown and strong ride was enough for the Gopher to pick up the win over Minnesota native Peyton Robb and help lift the Gophers to a 19-13 victory to snap a five-match losing streak to Mark Manning’s Huskers.
Hail 2 Pitt
Dual meets are funny things, especially when you can be down a man. While Arizona State was without Kordell Norfleet at 197 pounds, Pittsburgh scored the dual rarity, a win with only four individual match victories. Falls by Cole Matthews at 141 pounds, James Lledo at 165 and Nino Bonaccorsi at 197 pounds, the No. 19 Panthers pushed past the sixth-ranked Sun Devils 24-19. But a huge outcome came at 184 pounds where Gregg Harvey forced Josh Nummer into a disqualification via stalling. Tally up the four falls and the DQ and even Arizona State’s bonus wins at 149 and 285 coupled with Anthony Valencia’s win over NCAA runner-up Jake Wentzel weren’t enough to overcome the four six-pointers.
Hawkeyes, Cyclones win on the road
Second-ranked Iowa and 11th-ranked Iowa State both hit the road and came away with victories. The Hawkeyes fell behind early but rolled to a 33-6 win over No. 23 Northwestern at Welch-Ryan Arena. Iowa’s Drake Ayala knocked off Northwestern’s Michael DeAugustino at 125 pounds, further disrupting the ranking and seeding discussion in the conference. Another dual without Austin DeSanto saw Iowa insert Cullan Schriever into the lineup at 133 pounds, but the freshman fell short against All-American Chris Cannon 5-3. Max Murin picked up his third win in a row, beating All-American Yahya Thomas 4-3 at 149 pounds. Tony Cassioppi fell behind early but pulled away from Northwestern’s Lucas Davison at heavyweight … in Laramie, No. 11 Iowa State topped Wyoming, which finally got back on the mats in dual competition after a stay worthy for an Extended Stay America. The Cyclones topped the Cowboys 32-6 with Wyoming picking up the most intriguing match of the night, the 197-pound tilt between Stephen Buchanan and Yonger Bastida. Iowa State’s Cuban native led early, but Buchanan forced sudden victory and got the decisive takedown to take the win. National champ David Carr scored a fall at 157 pounds, pinning Darren Green in the second period.
Win streaks gotta start somewhere
Davidson’s men’s basketball team has the nation’s longest win streak on the hardwood. Davidson’s wrestling program picked up its first victory of the season and in the process, snapped Franklin & Marshall’s four-match win streak with a 20-18 win at home. The Wildcats won six out of 10 with Kyle Gorant earning the Wildcats’ only bonus win, a technical fall at 133 pounds. Davidson heavyweight Michael Trigg also earned a sound 5-2 win over Vincenzo Pelusi at 285 pounds.
Bonus Point: Virginia Duals
So with only six teams this year, the organizers of the Virginia Duals decided to do more of a showcase of Division I wrestling and guarantee each team two duals per day, with open mats for extra countable matches. Penn had to back out early this week, which opened the door for the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven to swoop in and grab two spots on the schedule for Friday. Lock Haven would have stayed, but California Baptist was flying out to meet Bloomsburg and Lock Haven on Saturday. That actually wasn’t canceled, so Lock Haven went and wrestled Oklahoma and Virginia and headed back home. Virginia had some issues with personnel, so its duals are no-contests, but they’re still in the block of scheduled teams competing. So with no one to compete in Penn’s spots on Saturday and South Dakota State having its dual with Utah Valley postponed, the Jackrabbits changed things up and flew to one of the most opposite places of Utah – Hampton, Virginia.
