Big Ten wrestling kicks off not with a bang, but with a whimper. PLUS selecting a streaming service

HWAHSQB: Some people will tell you that as football season winds down, that the next season is basketball season. Well, actually, most people I know go from football to deer season, then basketball. However, they’re missing out on a whole another sport that the SEC doesn’t even bother with and the B1G is for realsies the dominant force.

Look, if you’re a fan of a B1G West team or Penn State, Rutgers, or MSU, your wrestling team is definitely better than your football team. Don’t you want to watch your team be not bad? Come with me and let’s talk about how to make that happen.

First, the easiest way that doesn’t require you to do another single thing is to watch your team on regular BTN. Like women’s volleyball and baseball, BTN has been expanding their coverage and will have 24 duals as well as B1G championship coverage. Here is a link https://btn.com/2022/10/20/big-ten-network-announces-2022-23-big-ten-wrestling-schedule/.

Is that not enough wrestling for you? ME EITHER! Let’s talk about other options.

BTN+ is a good option for getting more wrestling matches. Many other duals are televised on BTN+. You also get next day replays of the televised matches if you are a Luddite and don’t have a streaming service or DVR. Cost is $14.99/mo to get the entire B1G or $9.99/mo if you think the other teams are stupid and you only want to watch your team. Either of those options will get you full coverage of the Ken Kraft Midlands and B1G tournament, all sessions, all mats. As soon as the season is over, you can easily cancel your monthly subscription unless you are a weirdo who wants to watch baseball or track or something.

Flowrestling is another option. You will see them advertise the price as $12.50/mo, but that is not really how it works. You have to pay $150 up front for a full year and then and only then, can you buy Flo for $12.50/mo. That is a pretty big investment and they are no longer carrying all the events that were on BTN and BTN+ so this is pretty tough pill to swallow unless you are watching wrestling nationally. Flo has the most extensive news coverage of NCAA wrestling that comes with that subscription also so that’s another factor.

Rofkin has a lot of wrestling event for only $9.99/mo, if you are into freestyle, Greco, and international events, but they only carry select NCAA events and don’t have contracts with any conferences.

Onto the wrestling!

Atinat: Well that was a rough start. With its top two teams still waiting to start the season, the Big Ten sent out Wisconsin and Nebraska to remind the nation who their wrestling daddy is and… yeah, it didn’t go well. Nebraska may be in a bit of a rebuilding year, but I don’t think anyone expected them to lose to North Dakota State, and Wisconsin has a lot of pieces and is coming off a 12-2 season, so their blowout loss to Iowa State is equally shocking.

#9 Wisconsin 35, Chattanooga 3

125: #6 Eric Barnett DEC #30 Logan Ashton, 4-0

133: #12 Taylor LaMont DEC #23 Brayden Palmer, 2-0

141: #11 Joseph Zargo DEC Franco Valdes, 10-5

149: #2 Austin Gomez FALL Grant Lundy, 2:44

157: #18 Garrett Model DEC Lincoln Heck, 6-2

165: #5 Dean Hamiti MD Weston Wichman, 11-3

174: #17 Rocky Jordan DEC Joshua Otto, 4-0

184: Tyler Dow DEC Sergio Desiante, 5-3

197: #20 Braxton Amos TF Landon Lewis, 17-2

285: #11 Trent Hillger TF Nicholas Benton, 16-0

#9 Wisconsin 31, Buffalo 6

125: #6 Eric Barnett MD Patrick Adams, 13-2

133: #12 Taylor LaMont DEC Cole Minnick, 6-1

141: #11 Joseph Zargo MD Jack Marlow, 15-2

149: #2 Austin Gomez FALL Kaleb Burgess, 2:24

157: #18 Garrett Model DEC Nick Stampoulos, 8-3

165: #5 Dean Hamiti MD Ty Raines, 16-5

174: Jay Nivison DEC James Rowley, SV-1 3-1

184: Guiseppe Hoose DEC Tyler Dow, 4-3

197: #20 Braxton Amos DEC Sam Mitchell, 5-2

285: #11 Trent Hillger MD Greg Hodulick 10-0

Iowa State 26, #9 Wisconsin 6

125: #24 Kysen Terukina DEC #6 Eric Barnett, SV-1 9-7

133: Zach Redding DEC #12 Taylor LaMont, 10-5

141: Casey Swiderski DEC #11 Joseph Zargo, 10-5

149: Paniro Johnson DEC #2 Austin Gomez, 9-4

157: #18 Garrett Model DEC Jason Kraisser, 6-5

165: #3 David Carr DEC #5 Dean Hamiti, 7-5

174: James Rowley DEC MJ Gaitan, 4-3

184: #5 Marcus Coleman FALL Tyler Dow, 1:45

197: #6 Yonger Bastida DEC #20 Braxton Amos, 5-3

285: #16 Sam Schuyler DEC #11 Trent Hillger, 3-2

Kind of...: I didn’t watch, but it was bad. Maybe they were all sick? Maybe they don’t want to peak too soon? Hillger may have peaked two years ago. Zargo and Gomez losing are the main issues. But, it was their third dual of the day in their first live action of the season. Definitely not going to overreact.

Atinat: This is an Iowa State program on the rise, and they seem a little scarier every year. Still, this is an embrassing result for the Badgers. I expect Terukina to take a step up this year, so that loss isn’t bad, but Zargo, Gomez, and Hillger have to do better. Also, I’m surprised David Carr is ranked third. I get that it’s a step up in weight for him, but he’s my pick to natty at whatever weight he chooses.

North Dakota State 20, #8 Nebraska 16

125: #20 Liam Cronin DEC Carlos Negrete Jr, 5-1

133: #24 Boo Dryden DEC McGwire Midkiff, 6-2

141: #9 Dylan Droegemueller DEC #28 Brock Hardy, 10-4

149: Michael Weber DEC Dayne Morton, TB-1 3-2

157: #4 Peyton Robb DEC #9 Jared Franek, 7-4

165: #19 Michael Caliendo FALL Jagger Condomitti, 1:20

174: #3 Michael Labriola MD Gaven Sax, 15-7

184: #31 Brandyn Van Tassell TF Deanthony Parker, 17-2

197: #27 Silas Allred DEC #21 Owen Pentz, SV-1 4-2

285: Juan Mora DEC #28 Cale Davidson, 2-1

Atinat: Elsewhere in dual results, Indiana topped SIU-Edwardsville 26-15, getting pins from Henry Porter and DJ Washington and majors from Jacob Moran and Derek Gilcher; and Maryland went 3-0 against American, Bloomsburg, and Duke, allowing just 16 team points in those three duals.

There were two open tournaments last weekend: the Clarion Open and the Michigan State Open.

Michigan State Open Finals

125: Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) DEC Joey Prata (OU), 5-3

133: Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) DEC Lucas Byrd (ILL), 3-2

141: Cole Mattin (Michigan) DEC Mosha Schwartz (OU), SV-1 5-4

149: Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) FALL Johnny Lovett (CMU), 1:56

157: Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) DEC Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), SV-1 5-3

165: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) DEC Danny Braunagel (ILL), 6-2

174: Ethan Smith (Ohio State) DEC Troy Fisher (Northwestern), 10-5

184: Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) DEC Matthew Finesilver (Michigan), 12-5

197: Zach Braunagel (ILL) FALL Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State), 4:20

285: Mason Parris (Michigan) MD Josh Heindselman (OU), 12-1

Atinat: Obviously Ohio State is walking away from this the happiest, with not just five individual titles over almost all ranked starters, but one HUGE win by true freshman Jesse Mendez over Lucas Byrd. Byrd was the likely #3 going into the year, a tier behind RBY and Fix but certainly a case to manage for anyone else. Mendez made him look silly. And this is a kid so fresh, the only pictures I could find of him were from high school, and of a women’s soccer player of the same name.

Clarion Open Finals

125: Matt Ramos (Purdue) DEC Colton Camacho (PITT), 6-3

133: Dustin Norris (Purdue) MFF Jacob Macatangay (Purdue)

141: Parker Filius (Purdue) MD Joshua Koderhandt (Navy), 18-10

149: Meyer Shapiro (HS-Cornell commit) FALL Tyler Badgett (PITT), 2:09

157: Kendall Coleman (Purdue) MFF Nate Camiscioli (Purdue)

165: Enrique Munguia (Kent St) DEC Val Park (Navy), 6-4

174: Jared McGill (Edinboro) MFF John Worthing (Clarion)

184: William Feldkamp (Clarion) FALL Reece Heller (PITT), 1:41

197: Maclane Stout (PITT) DEC Tyler Bagoly (Clarion), 9-5

285: Grady Griess (Navy) DEC Hayden Copass (Purdue), 3-1

UPCOMING

Friday:

#8 Michigan @ #29 Campbell, 4PM on UFC Fight Pass

Michigan State @ Davidson, 5PM

#26 Rutgers vs Clarion, 5PM on BTN+

#4 Ohio State vs #14 Virginia Tech, 6PM on BTN+

#1 Penn State vs Lock Haven, 6PM on BTN+

Saturday:

#17 Nebraska vs Army, #12 NC State; #26 Rutgers vs Sacred Heart, #5 Arizona State at Wranglemania in Bethlehem, PA, all day on Rokfin

Michigan State @ Presbyterian, 5PM on FloWrestling

Tiger Style Invite, all day on FloWrestling

Sunday:

#27 Purdue vs Rider, 11AM on BTN+

#2 Iowa vs Cal Baptist, 1PM on BTN+

#8 Michigan @ #18 North Carolina, 2PM on ACCN

Every day I consider Rokfin a little more. And if I wasn’t planning on attending the Collegiate Duals in person, I probably would. That’s a good set of duals at Wranglemania. Of course, it would have looked better if Nebraska hadn’t lost to NDSU. Personally, I’ll be watching Iowa kick off their season on Sunday, and probably watching the Ohio State dual on replay before football on Saturday.

Sound off in the comments on what’s most interesting to you, both from the last weekend and the upcoming one. It sure is nice to have wrestling back.