#10 Minnesota 37, Augustana 4

#10 Minnesota 18, #5 Oklahoma State 14

#1 Penn State 37, Rider 3

#1 Penn State 25, #22 Lehigh 12

Atinat: There is really only one thing worth talking about from these two duals, and that’s Max Dean going 0-2. The defending national champion lost to Rider’s Ethan Laird on a controversial sudden victory takedown, and then lost to former teammate Michael Beard in a high scoring affair. Now, if I’m a Penn State fan, I’m probably not panicking, but this is a guy who’s made a living by surviving these tight matches, and to lose two in one weekend is an eye-opener to say the least.

#27 Illinois 32, Chatty 9

HWAHSQB: This was a pretty ho hum easy match against a decent Moc squad. Dylan Connell at 184 picked up a good win against #31 Matthew Waddell. Those are the type of wins he needs if he wants to be a national qualifier. Not a great day for Kevon Davenport who was leading, but screwed around and got stuck on his back for six of the Mocs points. The other 3 came at 157 which is kind of a black hole for the Illinois lineup that is going to cost them some duals at some point this season.

#22 Pittsburgh 30, #27 Illinois 6

HWAHSQB: This was pretty fucking embarrassing performance if I’m being totally honest. The optimistic take is that Byrd has avenged early season losses in national tournaments before and Phillippi is 3X blood round guy so that’s a loss that doesn’t mean Byrd isn’t going to AA again. Danny Pucino lost 4-2 to #1 ranked Cole Matthews with his two coming from a 3rd period takedown. That’s a pretty good outcome against a guy that good. Both Braunagels wrestled good guys to SV and split those matches. Zac was soooo close to a regulation win. He was in on a double, but Bonaccorsi (2X blood round guy himself) managed to get one leg free before Braunagel could get him to the mat and finally, Edmond Ruth is the real deal. He beat two ranked guys on the day (16 Rocky Jordan (former Bucknut) and 33 Luca Augustine) He has the goods to AA as a freshman and even rival the accolades of his brother Ed down the line although that is one DAMN tall order.

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational

Atinat: Nebraska had a strong showing, taking down the CKLV and outpacing second-place NC State by 10 team points. Michigan finished fourth, Ohio State way-underperformed expectations in finishing eighth, and Northwestern and Purdue finished tenth and twelfth, respectively. Big upsets included Northwestern 125er Michael DeAugustino getting injured in his first match, Malik Heinselman losing in the first round and then wrestling back to avenge that loss in the third-place match, Brock Hardy pinning Drew Mattin and winning the 141-pound bracket, Carson Kharchla losing in the quarterfinals, and Nebraska’s Pinto scoring two huge upsets on the champion’s side of 184.

125: Rigueroa (ASU) dec Ramos (Pur) 3-2, Cronin (Neb) 3rd

133: Vito (Cornell) dec McGee (ASU) 6-1

141: Hardy (Neb) dec Happel (UNI) 6-1

149: Sasso (OSU) dec Parco (ASU) 6-2, Yahya (NW) 3rd

157: Robb (Neb) dec Coleman (Pur) 7-3, Lewan (MI) 4th

165: Ramirez (Cornell) TF Cook (SDSU) 17-1 (2:18), Wilson (Neb) 4th

174: Labriola (Neb) dec Lewis (VT) 3-1 SV, Romero (OSU) 4th

184: Hidlay (NCSt) dec Keckeisen (UNI) 8-2

197: Trumble (NCSt) dec Harvey (OrSt) 6-4

285: Parris (MI) dec Davison (NW) 6-4

#2 Iowa 18, #9 Iowa State 15

Atinat: Iowa got two huge season debuts from Spencer Lee and Real Woods, helping propel the Hawkeyes to a tight in-state victory despite only winning one of the four close matches on the night. Iowa has won 18 in a row in the series, but Iowa State is definitely back on the rise.

#12 Wisconsin 35, Princeton 6; #12 Wisconsin 27, #15 Penn 9

Kind of...: Two good wins for the Badgers, but a little frustration if you’re just a college wrestling fan in the Princeton dual as the Tigers sent out neither #2 Pat Glory (125) nor #1 Quincy Monday (157), turning the dual into a laugher. Had they both gone, we’re probably looking at a final of 27-11 and noting upper-weight wins where UW won the dual. So let’s do that anyway. At 184, Tyler Dow notched a 6-5 upset over #32 Nate Dugan, a nice win for a rsSR who has paid his dues. At 197 then-#20 Braxton Amos beat then-#19 Luke Stout in SV, 3-1. This is almost certainly a bout Amos loses last year. While he’s still far from a picture of aggression, he’s clearly improved from last year. Even the loss, 5-3 to Yonger Bastida of ISU (currently #2) is encouraging. Finally, at 275, #11 Trent Hillger rolled to a 10-1 MD over #27 Matt Cover.

The Penn dual was closer in terms of score, but every Badger who was supposed to win did, and, at 157, Garrett Model really made #12 Anthony Artalona work for his 3-2 victory. The highlight was the first bout as #9 Eric Barnett pinned #17 Ryan Miller in :22. Guess he was upset about not getting a shot at Pat Glory, huh? #2 Austin Gomez had a solid win over #9 Doug Zapf, 9-4, and Amos notched an impressive MD (9-1_ over #27 Cole Urbas at 197. At heavyweight, Hillger also capped off a nice day with a boring, but commanding 3-0 win over #15 Ben Goldin.

The Badgers currently sit at #14 in Intermat’s tournament rankings, but their 39.5 projected points are only 2 out of 9th. They’ve recovered nicely from the faceplant against Iowa State, and it will be very interesting to see how they fare at the Midlands at the end of the month. Before that, though, they’ll take on Drexel this Sunday.

#25 Rutgers 29, #15 Penn 12

#25 Rutgers 26, Drexel 13

Michigan State 21, Princeton 15

Michigan State 29, Binghamton 6

Indiana 25, Binghamton 16

Indiana 29, Drexel 6

Upcoming

#2 Iowa @ Chattanooga, Saturday at 6PM on ESPN+

Atinat: Spencer is not expected to wrestle again on Saturday, though Real Woods is one of two names on the probables at 141 pounds. The only competitive ranked dual should be at 174 pounds, where Nelson Brands faces Ohio State-transfer Rocky Jordan. Expect the Hawkeyes to roll through this one, probably only dropping the first two weights.

Michigan State @ Brown, Saturday at 6PM on ESPN+

#25 Oregon State @ #1 Penn State, Sunday at 1PM on ESPNU

#24 Rutgers @ Princeton, Sunday at 1PM on ESPN+

Navy @ #19 Maryland, Sunday at 1PM on ESPN+

Kent State @ #3 Ohio State, Sunday at 12PM on BTN+

Drexel @ #12 Wisconsin, Sunday at 1PM on BTN+

Kind of...: This should be a blowout with Drexel’s being a clear favorite at 174 with #9 Michael O’Malley, and a possible win at 184. The Dragons’ (yeah, points to Drexel for that nickname) second-best wrestler is #27 Evan Barczak, but he wrestles at 165, and is going to run into the buzzsaw that is Dean Hamiti.

#9 Minnesota @ #18 North Dakota State, Friday at 7PM

#9 Minnesota @ Lindenwood, #29 Cal Poly, Sunday at 1:30PM