This week’s NCAA Div. I schedule listed by conference, plus ranked duals and other notes

Action image courtesy of Iowa State Athletics.

Here is this week’s Div. I college wrestling schedule, broken up by conference. Please note that we are including the most current NWCA Div. I poll rankings, as published on February 9.

It’s hard to believe that the NCAA Div. I regular season is winding down, but that is truly the case this week. This will be the last big week of dual meet action, with only a limited amount of competition going on next week.

Everybody knew that wrestling would be no different than other college sports, with ups and downs caused by the pandemic. This has been an especially active week with postponements and cancellations.

On Monday, No. 1 Iowa paused its wrestling activity, which caused its Friday dual meet at No. 3 Penn State to be postponed. Penn State coach Cael Sanderson told media that the Nittany Lions, which has wrestled three duals but have had four duals postponed, will be looking to add some matches prior to the conference meet. We will watch for announcements from Penn State.

On February 5, the American University athletic department paused all athletic activity for a minimum of 10 days due to the pandemic, which caused American to postpone its Wednesday dual meet at George Mason, as well as its Saturday dual meet at Lehigh. George Mason will still wrestle Drexel on Wednesday.

Likewise, on February 5, CSU Bakersfield paused wrestling operations, which did not allow them to travel to Oregon State on Sunday, Feb. 7, and also kept them from going to Thursday a tri-meet at No. 11 Arizona State with Cal Poly. The Thursday Cal Poly at Arizona State dual will still be held.

Fresno State announced on Wednesday that its home duals against No. 18 Oklahoma and Oregon State on Sunday were cancelled, and the OU vs. Oregon State match would not occur in Fresno.

Sunday’s quad meet at No. 13 Iowa State has become a tri-meet, with Northern Colorado pulling out due to COVID protocols. Iowa State, No. 15 Northern Iowa and No. 11 Arizona State will still compete against each other.

There are currently eight dual meets between ranked opponents this weekend. Three are Big Ten battles, two are ACC matchups, one is a Big 12 match and two are between different conferences.

This week’s dual meets between ranked opponents (by day)

Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 12 Ohio State at No. 2 Michigan
Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 17 Purdue at No. 22 Michigan State
Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 9 Minnesota at No. 19 Wisconsin
Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 16 Pittsburgh at No. 4 Virginia Tech

Saturday, Feb. 13 – No. 21 Virginia at No. 14 North Carolina

Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 15 Northern Iowa at No. 13 Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 14– No. 11 Arizona State at No. 13 Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 15 Northern Iowa vs. No. 11 Arizona State (at Iowa State)

The Southern Conference teams have completed their dual meet schedule, and will not compete again until the SoCon Championships at Appalachian State on Feb. 28.

Notes from Gary Petit, Ohio State and Leah Howard, Michigan
• Ohio State and Michigan are meeting for 96th time on Friday evening.
• The Buckeyes have won four of the last seven matches with the Wolverines including each of the last four in Ann Arbor dating back to 2009.
• No. 2 Michigan will host No. 12 Ohio State at 7 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 12) at Crisler Center in its home finale and first competition in nearly a month.
• Michigan comes into the match as the No. 2 ranked team according to Track Wrestling at 3-0 but the Wolverines haven’t wrestled a match since Jan. 17 due to the athletic department’s two-week pause of activities.
• According to Track Wrestling, eight Buckeyes have Top 25 rankings including four in the Top 10.
• Six Michigan starters remain unbeaten; Logan Massa (174 pounds) and Mason Parris (heavyweight) have earned bonus points in all three of their season wins.
• OSU's Sammy Sasso is the 7-0 this season and has a team-high three pins. He and Bryce * Hepner (3-0) are the two undefeated Buckeyes this season.
• The Wolverines share the top spot in the Big Ten standings with a perfect 3-0 record after winning 24 of 30 total bouts -- with 12 bonus wins -- in dual victories against Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana.
• Michigan has won 24 of 30 matches over its opening three duals and earned bonus points in 12 -- exactly half of its wins.
• Junior Malik Heinselman and freshman Anthony Echemendia each have just one loss this season, and it came in their last matches on Sunday. Both wrestlers are looking to bounce back Friday evening.
• Three Wolverines are bearing down at the 100-win milestone this season. Graduate students Stevan Micic and Myles Amine entered the season with career records of 93-14 and 93-20, respectively, while sixth-year senior Logan Massa is 88-19 over his collegiate tenure.

Big Ten Schedule (this week)
**Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 12 Ohio State at No. 2 Michigan
**Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 17 Purdue at No. 22 Michigan State
**Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 9 Minnesota at No. 19 Wisconsin
**Sunday, Feb. 14 –Maryland at Indiana
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 19 Wisconsin at Northwestern

Big 12 Schedule (this week)
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – Utah Valley at South Dakota State
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – Air Force at South Dakota State
** Saturday, Feb. 13 – Utah Valley vs. North Dakota State (at South Dakota State)
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – North Dakota State vs. Air Force (at South Dakota State)
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – Utah Valley vs. Air Force (at South Dakota State)
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – West Virginia at No. 6 Oklahoma State
Sunday, Feb. 14 – West Virginia vs. No. 5 Missouri (at Oklahoma State)
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – Cowboy Challenge Tournament (at No. 6 Oklahoma State), with Wyoming, West Virginia, UCO, No. 5 Missouri
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 15 Northern Iowa at No. 13 Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 14– No. 11 Arizona State at No. 13 Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 15 Northern Iowa vs. No. 11 Arizona State (at Iowa State)

ACC Schedule (this week)
**Friday, Feb. 12 – Duke at No. 7 NC State
**Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 16 Pittsburgh at No. 4 Virginia Tech
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – No. 21 Virginia at No. 14 North Carolina

EIWA Schedule (this week)
Wednesday, Feb. 10 – Drexel at George Mason
Thursday, Feb. 11 – Drexel at No. 25 Rider
**Friday, Feb. 12 – No. 20 Navy at Army West Point
**Saturday, Feb. 13 – Hofstra at Binghamton
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – Bucknell at Lehigh

MAC Schedule (this week)
Wednesday, Feb. 10 – Drexel at George Mason
Thursday, Feb. 11 – Drexel at No. 25 Rider
**Thursday, Feb. 11 – Bloomsburg at Buffalo
**Friday, Feb. 12 – Northern Illinois at Kent State
**Friday, Feb. 12 – Edinboro at Kent State
**Friday, Feb. 12 – Northern Illinois vs. Edinboro (at Kent State)
Friday, Feb. 12 – Messiah College at Clarion
**Sunday, Feb. 14 – Cleveland State at Ohio
Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 5 Missouri at Oklahoma State Cowboy Challenge Tournament

Pac-12 Schedule (this week)
**Thursday, Feb. 11 – Cal Poly at No. 11 Arizona State
Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 11 Arizona State at No. 13 Iowa State
Sunday, Feb. 14 – No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 15 Northern Iowa (at Iowa State)

SoCon Schedule (this week)
All teams have completed their 2021 dual meet schedule

Colleges without a published schedule yet: Lock Haven,