Men’s College Notebook: Iowa State, South Dakota State, Wisconsin earn big wins over Thanksgiving weekend

With the Thanksgiving weekend upon us, it was a light week of action on the wrestling mats. Let’s look at some of the top stories from the holiday weekend.

Oklahoma redshirt-freshman Beric Jordan announced via Instagram that after this season, he will pause his athletic eligibility and serve in the U.S. Army. He noted he has accepted a contract to join the elite 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg and will ship out in April for One Station Unit Training (OSUT) and Basic Airborne Course (BAC) at Fort Benning, before a goal of being a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

Jordan was one of the top-ranked recruits in his class, #21 overall on FloWrestling’s 2024 Big Board, out of Stillwater High School. After originally committing to Oklahoma State, he signed with the Sooners and redshirted last year, going 14-3.

It came down to the final bout to seal the win, as #6 Iowa State knocked off #3 Iowa for the first time since 2004 in the annual Cy-Hawk battle, 20-14. The Cyclones win snapped a 20-dual win streak for Iowa in the series, as Iowa State held a 6-4 edge in matches won, with all 10 battles being ranked-versus-ranked matchups.

Iowa State led from start to finish, as the dual began at heavyweight and the Cyclones won three of the first four bouts to take a 10-3 lead. The two squads traded wins over the final six matches. Going into that final bout, Iowa State held a 17-14 lead, but also held the tiebreaker advantage had the dual ended in a tie, and closed it out with a decision at 197 pounds for the final margin.

Among the upsets:
133: #6 Evan Frost (ISU) dec. #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa), 11-5
149: #14 Ryder Block (Iowa) dec. #4 Paniro Johnson (ISU), 2-1 (TB-1)
174: #14 MJ Gaitan (ISU) dec. #3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 9-8 (TB-1)

On the road, #16 South Dakota State came home before Thanksgiving with an 18-14 win over #7 Minnesota. The Golden Gophers held a 14-12 lead going into the final two bouts. #7 Bennett Berge made his season debut, and his 2-1 decision gave South Dakota State the lead. #20 Luke Rasmussen clinched the dual victory, with a reversal and near fall points late in the third for a 7-5 win over #13 Koy Hopke. Even more impressive, the Jack Rabbits scored the win without two ranked starters - #21 Derrick Cardinal (133) and #19 Drake Rhodes (165).

With the dual tied going into the final match at heavyweight, #18 Braxton Amos came away with an 11-2 major decision to lift Wisconsin past Bucknell, 19-15. The Badgers took a 15-3 lead after the first five bouts before Bucknell won four in a row to even it heading into the final bout. Wisconsin is now 3-0 for the first time since 2021-22.

A pair of ACC teams won big in road action. Virginia used four bonus point wins, including three pins, to come away with a 41-0 shutout at Bloomsburg. NC State won six of the first seven bouts and came home with a 21-14 win over Appalachian State.