Abbott Blog: Nov. 1 with no college wrestling? Actually, it has already started

Photo of Vito Arujau of Cornell battling Dylan Ragusin of Michigan in the Senior National Freestyle finals by Sam Janicki.


Traditionally, the start of the annual college wrestling season is on or about November 1. Intrasquad wrestle-offs were held in October at schools which hold them. Most years kick off with the NWCA All-Star Classic on that first Monday, and a number of traditional college open tournaments begin in November and are held the rest of the first semester. There are even a handful of important dual meets held prior to the holiday break. The major wrestling media outlets begin publishing weekly rankings in November.


Just like everything else during the COVUD-19 pandemic, nothing is the way we are used to it in wrestling, as in the rest of our lives.


However, while it doesn’t seem like college wrestling is going on, in actuality, college wrestling is already underway. It is happening in the practice room and in a number of different places than we are have found it in the past.


This summer, the leaders in wrestling made a decision to hold off on the start of the college competition season. The was a committee of stakeholders organized by USA Wrestling and the USOPC which dealt with these issues, as well as a leadership group within the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Although it was not approved officially anywhere, that is how the season is progressing, looking for a shorter competition season and the normal NCAA Championships held when they are already scheduled to happen.


So, without some of our well-known November tournaments and dual meets to follow, where can we find our college wrestling fix?


First of all, college wrestlers have already competed. All you had to do was watch the Senior Nationals in Coralville, Iowa in mid-October, and you had a wealth of young college stars on the mat, wrestling in freestyle and Greco-Roman, of course.


And the college kids did a nice job, winning a number of Senior National titles and capturing many All-American honors. Among the men’s freestyle champions Vito Arujau of Cornell (57 kg), Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado (65 kg), Logan Massa of Michigan (74 kg) and Mason Parris of Michigan (125 kg). Greco-Roman champions were Alex Thomsen of Nebraska (60 kg), Nick Boykin of Ohio State (97 kg) and Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State (130 kg). None of the women champions were currently in college, but a number of the All-Americans are.


Also, one of the cool things going on during the pandemic are the all-star cards of international matches, being organized by a variety of Regional Training Centers and wrestling media broadcasters. These events, which are similar to an MMA card or a boxing card, have featured a number of college wrestlers, with many others coming up. For instance, we had a chance to preview some Penn State wrestlers during the two Nittany Lion WC cards. Today, there will be a bunch of Iowa wrestlers featured on the Hawkeye WC card. You can tell that these kids are training by how they are competing in these events.


And if you miss college folkstyle wrestling? If you get the daily wrestling news email from Jason Bryant and Mat Talk Online (and all serious wrestling fans need to sign up for this), you found out yesterday that the first college dual meet of the year was held, when York wrestled Concordia on October 30.


We all know that there are certain conferences and colleges that have delayed or cancelled their winter sports seasons. That really stinks for the young wrestlers who are affected by those decisions. It seems like there are some people who are making decision a little to soon, rather than waiting things out like the rest of us. But college wrestling is going on every day, in the practice rooms and in some events, and pretty soon, we may be right into the heart of the season, just a number of weeks delayed (we hope!!!)


You can enjoy a number of college wrestlers in a few weeks when USA Wrestling hosts the U23 Nationals and UWW Junior Nationals in Omaha, Nebraska, Nov. 12-16. This event will be broadcast by Flowrestling, which will make it accessible to you easily. Also check out some of the other event cards being announced during the next two months. We will see a bunch of collegians showcased in these cards. Don’t be surprised if a number of other creative new events are hosted to give those college wrestlers a chance to compete.


Now is a good time to support those who are able to host wrestling competitions, even if they aren’t the ones we are used to every autumn. We will back on the college mats very soon, pending, of course, how things work out concerning the pandemic.