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 December 12, 2021.
Mount(ie) Up!
With apologies to the late Warren G, it was time for the Mounties of Mt. San Antonio College to mount up and regulate on the California Community College system. After finishing the regular season 13-0 and winning the state dual championship, coach David Rivera’s squad won the school’s first California Community College state championship on Saturday in Norwalk, outdistancing second-place Cerritos 167-138.5. If you have no idea why there’s a college championship at this point in the year, it’s not because of COVID, but the California junior college system has competed in the fall since 1982. Eleven of the 12 entries (you can enter a max of 12 at the regional qualifier) earned top eight finishes with five of them punching through to the finals. Jason Valencia (133) and Wetzel Hill won individual titles and Valencia beat teammate David Saenz in an all-Mt. SAC final.
The highest Mt. San Antonio had ever finished was second, first in 2012 and most recently in 2017. Rivera is the older brother of former CSU Bakersfield head coach and past Minnesota All-American Manny Rivera. The older Rivera was a two-time NAIA runner-up at Embry-Riddle in Arizona. The coaching staff also includes previous head coach Larry Wantanbe and two-time Division I All-American Chris Mecate from that school in Norfolk.
West Hills finished sixth with 84.5 points, but had the most champs, crowing three individual titlists – Wayne Joint at 141, Lupe Ayon at 149 and Angel Solis at 197 pounds. Past Fargo champ Jonavan Smith won the title at 285 pounds for Cerritos. He’d spent a season at Presbyterian before heading back to his native California.
Cowboys still own Bedlam
Fourth-ranked Oklahoma State won nine of 10 bouts and the extra non-countable match during the post-match handshake in a 31-3 victory at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman on Sunday. We saw the Oklahoma debut of Dom Demas this season and it came at 149 pounds. It didn’t go well as Oklahoma State’s Kaden Gfeller came away with 9-3 win to kick things off for the Cowboys. The highlight matchup came at 197 pounds as returning national champion A.J. Ferrari controlled All-American Jake Woodley of Oklahoma to the tune of a 6-3 decision. Ferrari was never really in danger as his mastery over Woodley continued. Ferrari is now 4-0 in college against Woodley. The lone OU win came at heavyweight as Josh Heindselman topped Luke Surber in sudden victory. The decisive points were in a scramble in overtime where Surber found himself giving up two on the neutral danger call. Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix picked up the lone fall of the dual, pinning Anthony Madrigal in the third period at 133 pounds. As far as that non-countable match, well, that’s a joke and alludes to the post-match kerfuffle between Heindselman and Ferrari. The two seemed to be exchanging words when the ESPNU footage picked up Heindselman shoving Ferrari in the shoulder. Ferrari responded with a swing, although it didn’t appear completely close-fisted, then a scrum ensued, Ferrari doubled Heindselman to the mat as several Cowboys hung off Heindselman. It’s the second time in as many weeks we’ve had post-match shenanigans following a Sunday night intra-state rivalry dual. Hard to say who was at fault here, but unlike Iowa-Iowa State, there did seem to be an actual altercation between student-athletes in Norman. Someone’s gonna be sitting because of this for at least a match.
Kharchla knocks off Wentzel as Buckeyes roll
The much-ballyhooed Carson Kharchla picked up the biggest win of his young career on Sunday afternoon as he helped seventh-ranked Ohio State beat No. 22 Pittsburgh 30-7. Kharchla beat returning NCAA runner-up Jake Wentzel 4-3 at 165 pounds. Ohio State won eight of 10 bouts and got bonus victories from returning NCAA runner-up Sammy Sasso at 149, All-Americans Ethan Smith at 174 and Tate Orndorff at 285 as well as 184-pounder Kaleb Romero. Dylan D’Emilio picked up a solid victory at 141 pounds, knocking off Luke Kemerer 4-3.
Wolfpack again given fits, but pull away from App State
It’s roughly a three-hour drive due west to get from NC State’s Raleigh campus to the city of Boone, home of Appalachian State. While NC State came into Sunday’s dual having won the last eight meetings, Appalachian State has made it a match for most of those duals. Sunday was no exception as NC State needed to win the last four duals to pull away and earn a 25-10 win. The fifth-ranked Wolfpack improved to 3-0. The teams traded the first six bouts with the Mountaineers pickup up slight upset wins at 133 and 165 pounds. Sean Carter avenged a 2021 loss to Jarrett Trombley with a win in sudden victory at 133. At 165 pounds, Will Formato upended NC State’s Thomas Bullard 6-1. It’s the fifth time the two have met in college, with Bullard still holding a 3-2 advantage in the series. Back-to-back-to-back major decisions helped pull the Wolfpack away.
Tons of duals in the last 48
There were 141 dual meets known to be completed on Saturday and Sunday, making for a very busy weekend for people like the guys at WrestleStat and America’s busiest Seton Hall graduate. The biggest dual of Sunday involving ranked programs in Division II saw No. 12 Findlay upend fourth-ranked West Liberty 19-18. West Liberty wrestled without both its top-ranked 125 and 133 pounders and Findlay capitalized, scoring nine points in those two weights with a forfeit at 125 and a Ashotn Anderson decision at 133. West Liberty also picked up a forfeit at 197 pounds, but the difference maker was the major decision at 157 pounds by Findlay’s top-ranked James Wimer. … On Saturday, Lindsey Wilson College hosted the NAIA Challenge Duals and second-ranked Life was the only school to go 5-0. The Running Eagles, the returning NAIA champions, Beat Indiana Tech, Marian, Midway, Bluefield and Williams Baptist. The University of the Cumberlands went 4-1 as did Indiana Tech. Cumberlands’ lone loss was a 20-19 loss to Indiana Tech, while Indiana Tech’s loss, mentioned earlier, was to Life. … On Sunday in Danville, Virginia, Division III Averett hosted the Cougar Duals and Averett went 4-1, as did Division II Glenville State. Averett beat Emory & Henry, Greensboro, Montreat and Limestone, while Limestone, which went 3-1, beat Glenville State, Emory & Henry and Montreat. Glenville State, which as won 13 duals already this season, beat Emory & Henry, Montreat, Greensboro and Averett. Lots of fun with matchups there. Of note for Averett, the win over Limestone was the school’s second win of the season over a team from a higher division. They’d previously defeated Division I Bellarmine last month. Glenville State now leads the nation in dual meet wins … Division III Mount Saint Joseph doesn’t get a ton of love nationally (or anywhere) but the Lions won two bouts at home on Sunday, shutting out NJCAA Ancilla 58-0 and beating NAIA Rio Grande 44-9. … you can find all these scores at collegewrestlingscoreboard.com.
