Men’s College Notebook: Penn State Snaps Dual-Meet Record, Ohio State and Oklahoma State notch top-10 wins

Not only did Penn State set a new DI team record, but they also did it in style. With a pair of wins at the Journeymen Collegiate Duals, the Nittany Lions won their 76th and 77th consecutive duals, breaking the record set by Oklahoma State in 1951.

In Nashville, Penn State shut out both North Dakota State (46-0) and then #23 Stanford (42-0).

The last Penn State dual loss was January 31, 2020, at Iowa (19-17).

There was a lot of discourse this week on social media about ranking true freshmen—predictions versus season results. One thing is for sure, a pair of freshmen in the Penn State starting lineup will be national title threats come March.

Both Marcus Blaze and PJ Duke earned top-10 wins in the Stanford dual. At 133 pounds, Blaze earned a fall over 2025 All-American #6 Tyler Knox (he was up 12-2 at the time). At 157 pounds, Duke downed 2024 All-American Daniel Cardenas, 5-2.

Blaze (10-0) and Duke (9-0) are both undefeated through the first couple of months in their collegiate careers.

Returning NCAA finalist Josh Barr made his season debut for Penn State at 197 pounds. He was a perfect 2-0 on the day, as both of his matches ended in the second period via technical fall.

His first bout was a 19-3 tech over North Dakota State’s Devin Wasley. In his second bout of the day, Barr scored a dominant, 19-3, tech fall over #20 Angelo Posada of Stanford. In the bout, Barr reeled in five takedowns and a turn before ending the match early in the second period.

For the fifth time this season, Ohio State racked up a top-10 win. Even more impressive, the Buckeyes 21-13 win over #3 Iowa State was their third top-5 victory in the first two months of the season.

Ohio State once again dominated in the first half of the dual, winning four of the first five bouts to take a 15-3 lead midway through the dual after Brandon Cannon’s late pin in the 157-pound match.

The Cyclones scored a major decision by #1 Rocky Elam at 197 pounds and fellow #1 Yonger Bastida knocked off #3 Nick Feldman, 4-2, at heavyweight to close the dual. But, before Elam stepped on the mat, the dual was already Ohio State’s at 21-6.

For the second time this season, Oklahoma State defeated Nebraska. This time around it was a 22-12 win in Lincoln, powered by a pair of bonus point wins in the first four matches.

The Cowboys jumped out to a 13-3 lead after four bouts, highlighted by #2 Sergio Vega scoring a fall over returning national finalist #3 Brock Hardy. It was the second bonus point win for the true freshman Vega over Hardy this year. At the National Duals, it was a major decision.

The Huskers made a run, winning three of the next four to cut it to a 16-12 Oklahoma State lead with 197 pounds and heavyweight left. The Cowboys picked up back-to-back decisions to close out the road win.

The Huskers did set a new attendance record, as 7,094 fans packed the Devaney Center.

With the first semester in the books, Cornell has added even more firepower to its lineup. Among the returners this weekend at the Collegiate Duals, Vince Cornella was back at 141 pounds and Meyer Shaprio was back at 157 pounds.

Cornella has been out of the Big Red lineup since the 2024 EIWA Championship, while Shapiro was not enrolled in the first semester. They both went 2-0 on the day with ranked wins over Illinois. Cornella posted an 8-2 win over #16 Danny Pucino, while Shapiro used a third-period rideout to down #7 Kannon Webster.

Second-year head coach Adam Hall and his Utah Valley squad are starting to make some headlines with their results each week. This time, it was a pair of top-15 upsets at the lower weights in a dual at #21 Wisconsin.

In the first bout at 125 pounds, #27 Bridger Ricks earned an 8-5 decision in extra time to take out #13 Nicolar Rivera. An even bigger upset came at 133 pounds, as an unranked Geronimo Rivera came away with a 7-2 win over #9 Zan Fugitt, a 2025 All-American. 

In the dual, Utah Valley won the first three bouts and opened with a 10-0 lead. The Badgers won six of the final seven to defend their home gym with a 23-14 win.

On the season, Wisconsin sits at 8-0 going into their January 9 Big Ten opener at Iowa. It is the Badgers’ best start to a season since 2006-07.

In addition to the win over Utah Valley, Wisconsin also scored a 24-11 win over Lock Haven in a doubleheader event.

The Badgers finished the week off with a 26-15 win over visiting Arizona State. Two early pins led to the Wisconsin victory, as they jumped out to an 18-0 lead after the first four bouts.

The marquee bout came at heavyweight. In his first season since moving up from 197 pounds, #17 Braxton Amos earned a hard-fought, 1-0, win over #19 David Scuba. Amos improved to 11-1 on the year in his first season back on the college mat since 2022-23. An Olympic redshirt, followed by an injury, kept him out for the past two seasons.