Men's College Notebook: Conference Dual Meet Season Has Arrived

The Big Ten opens its conference slate this weekend with eight matchups, four of which are ranked-on-ranked. Maryland and Wisconsin both have two conference duals, while all five top-10 squads open with a home dual.

• Michigan State at #12 Michigan – Friday at 7 p.m. on B1G+
• #18 Wisconsin at #4 Iowa – Friday at 8 p.m. on B1G+
• Purdue at #6 Nebraska – Friday at 8 p.m. on B1G+
• Maryland at Northwestern – Friday at 8 p.m. on B1G+
• #11 Minnesota at #10 Illinois – Saturday at 2 p.m. B1G+
• #16 Rutgers at #1 Penn State – Saturday at 4 p.m. on Big Ten Network
• #23 Indiana at #2 Ohio State – Sunday at 1 p.m. on B1G+
• Maryland at #18 Wisconsin – Sunday at 1 p.m. on Big Ten Network

#1 Penn State, #2 Ohio State, #4 Iowa, #6 Nebraska and #10 Illinois all open the Big Ten schedule with a home dual. Just a step outside the national top 10, Minnesota takes a trip to Illinois in what should be the marquee matchup of the weekend. Wisconsin is also a program to keep an eye on. The Badgers are a perfect 8-0 on the season.

ACC dual action begins on Friday night. Over the next seven weekends, the ACC’s conference duals will be showcased every Friday night.

The opening weekend will feature:

• #7 Virginia Tech at #14 Pitt – 7 p.m. on ACCNX
• Virginia at #9 NC State – 7 p.m. on ACCNX
• Duke at #24 Stanford – 10 p.m. on ACCNX

Five of the seven teams begin the conference slate ranked in the top-25, including four ranked 14th or better. Defending national champion Vince Robinson leads the way, ranked #1 at 125 pounds and ranked #14 in FloWrestling’s pound-for-pound rankings this week. Six of the 10 weight classes feature at least five ranked wrestlers, impressive for a seven-team conference.

Big 12 duals started as early as late November. With very unbalanced schedules thus far, Oklahoma State sits atop at 3-0, followed by Northern Iowa at 2-0. This weekend features a few more matchups.

• #21 West Virginia at Arizona State – Friday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+
• #3 Iowa State at North Dakota State – Sunday at 3 p.m. on NDSU All-Access
• #15 Oklahoma at #5 Oklahoma State – Sunday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Bedlam! Everybody knows what it means in the state of Oklahoma, and for the 190th time this weekend, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will face off on the wrestling mat. The Cowboys are aiming for their 21st consecutive win in the series, which would set a new series record for either program. Key matchups will come at every weight class from 174-heavyweight, as both squads featured ranked wrestlers at all the upper weights.

While the match-up in Stillwater will have everybody’s attention, an individual match in the West Virginia-Arizona State dual might be the top bout of the weekend. West Virginia’s Ty Waters is a perfect 10-0 on the year and ranked #1 at 157 pounds by various media outlets. There are heavy rumors that a weight change has indeed taken place for Arizona State, as Kaleb Larkin has made the transition from 149 pounds up to 157 pounds. He had been ranked #3 at 149 pounds and already knocked off #3 Vince Zerban of Iowa State (4-1) in a dual earlier this week.

Former EIWA conference rivals will face off in what is annually one of the best non-conference duals of the season.

• #20 Cornell at #23 Lehigh – Saturday at 1 p.m. on FloWrestling

Both programs appear lower in the coaches’ poll than they traditionally have been, but that is because both squads have had top wrestlers miss time this year – that is, until this weekend, when both teams could be back to full strength.

The two teams have traded wins over the last four years, each winning on their home mat. The last road win to come in the series was by Lehigh in 2020.

For Cornell, both #7 Meyer Shapiro (157 pounds) and #2 Simon Ruiz (174 pounds) have been limited to only two matches this year. The former All-Americans are both national title threats once back healthy in the lineup. In addition, Vince Cornella (141 pounds) missed the first semester, but is 7-0 since and has shot up to #6 in the national rankings.

Meanwhile for Lehigh, it is believed that both Ryan Crookham (133 pounds) and Luke Stanich (141 pounds) will be making their season debuts. Both are former All-Americans, and both were ranked in the preseason top-5 in their weight classes.

The 2026 NWCA National Duals will take place Jan. 9-10 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. There are two pools of teams, featuring 10 programs. Complete brackets can be found HERE.

The field is led by South Dakota State in Pool B and Northern Iowa in Pool A, which were just voted #1 and #2, respectively, in the NWCA D1 Men’s Mid-Major Coaches Poll.

While dual action will dictate the headlines this weekend, there are a couple of tournaments worth tracking.

As many as 15 teams will be in action at the Franklin & Marshall Open on Friday. Penn, Princeton and Army lead the field. Then on Sunday, Utah Valley will host the Rockwell Open.