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Session One Notes: Host Michigan gets good start, 197 loaded with All-Americans, round one upset list
by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Nick Suriano (Michigan) won his first bout with a major decision. Photo by Sam Janicki
Host Michigan, the Big Ten champions, seeks the national team title on home mats
The NCAA Championships seem even more fun when the “local” team has a chance to win the team title. This year, Michigan fits the bill, as the Big Ten champion and among the true contenders for the champion trophy. Michigan has never won a team title here. They are 42 miles to the west of Detroit and punched nine into the nationals from the Big Ten Championships. The Wolverines got a technical fall from No. 1 Myles Amine (184), ajor decisions from No. 1 Nick Suriano (125), No. 3 Logan Massa (174) and No. 7 Mason Parris (285) plus decisions from No. 6 Dylan Ragusin (133), No. 8 Will Lewan (157), No. 6 Cameron Amine (165) and Patrick Brucki (197). Michigan dropped its first bout in Detroit at 141 pounds, where No. 9 seed Allan Hart of Missouri beat No. 24 seed (and Serbian Olympian) Stevan Micic, 7-3. It is way early, but Michigan stands in third place with 12.5 points, behind Penn State and Iowa.
197 pounds loaded with 14 All-Americans
Most of the weight classes have many All-Americans, but 197 pounds has the most with 14. Here they are, with their seeds: No. 1 Max Dean of Penn State, No. 2 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming, No 3 Eric Schultz of Nebraska, No. 4 Patrick Brucki of Michigan, No 5 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt, No. 6 Jacob Warner of Iowa, No. 7 Rocky Elam of Missouri, No 8 Lou DePrez of Binghamton, No. 9 Cameron Caffey of Michigan State, No 12 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State, No. 13 Jake Woodley of Oklahoma, No. 14 Greg Bulsak of Rutgers, No. 16 Kordell Norfleet of Arizona State and No. 17 Jay Aiello of Virginia. Obviously, they all didn’t survive session one, with a first-round win by No. 17 Jay Aiello over Kordell Norfleet. The other 197-pound past All-American to lose was No. 12 Sloan, who fell to No. 21 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State, 6-4 in sudden victory.
2020 Olympic medalists Steveson, Amine start strong
Occasionally, an NCAA tournament will feature an Olympic medalist who return to complete their college career. However, there are two competing this year with Gable Steveson of Minnesota (gold medal at 125 kg for Team USA) and Myles Amine (bronze medal at 86 kg for San Marino). The question – will they match or beat their Olympic placement at the NCAA’s this year? (Probably a good bet…) Steveson and Amine both opened with technical fall wins.
First pin and first technical fall in Detroit 2022
In case you were watching another mat, the first fall of the tournament was by Josh Mason of Bloomsburg, who pinned Dylan Cedeno of Virginia in 2:11 at 141 pounds in the pigtails, followed only by a few seconds with Connor O’Neill of Rutgers, who pinned Dominic Solis of Maryland in 2:15 in the pigtails at 174 pounds. (Note: after the match, both O’Neill and Solis both have losing records for the year, with O’Neill at 14-15 and Solis at 15-16.) The first technical fall came in the first round at 133 pounds, with Iowa’s Austin DeSanto putting away Sydney Flores of Air Force, 19-3 in 4:09.
Active Div I coaches and their number of NCAA Div. I titles
Cael Sanderson, Penn State – 8
John Smith, Oklahoma State – 5
Tom Brands, Iowa – 4
Tom Ryan, Ohio State – 1
There is also another active coach with three NCAA Div. I titles still on the sidelines, as former Iowa and Oregon State head coach Jim Zalesky is now the head coach at NAIA Jamestown University in North Dakota.
Tracking upsets, Session I
In our notes, we will post every “upset” each session, based upon seeds. The athletes with the best seed to lose this session were three No. 7 seeds. There was a returning national champion defeated in the first session, as No. 22 Dazjon Casto of The Citadel knocked off No. 11 Austin O`Connor of North Carolina in sudden victory. Here they are, in order of upsetness (is it a word? Probably not)
Session I upsets – lower seed beats higher seed in match
133 - No. 26 Matt Ramos (Purdue) pin No. 7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) (Fall 2:27)
141 - No. 26 Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) dec. No. 7 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) (Dec 4-3)
174 - No. 26 Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec. No. 7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) (Dec 13-12)
125 - No. 25 Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec. No. 8 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) (Dec 8-5)
133 - No. 25 Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec. No. 8 RayVon Foley (Michigan State) (Dec 4-2)
174 - No. 25 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) dec. No. 8 Michael O`Malley (Drexel) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 24 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) (Dec 4-1)
157 - No. 22 Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) dec. No. 11 Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) (SV-1 8-2)
174 - No. 22 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) dec. No. 11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) (Dec 3-1)
125 - No. 21 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) dec. No. 12 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) (Dec 7-2)
149 - No. 21 Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec. No. 12 Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) (Dec 7-5)
184 - No. 21 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) dec. No. 12 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) (SV-1 5-3)
197 - No. 21 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) dec. No. 12 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 20 Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) dec. No. 13 Drake Ayala (Iowa) (Dec 12-9)
141 - No. 20 Parker Filius (Purdue) dec. No. 13 Ian Parker (Iowa State) (MD 13-5)
141 - No. 19 Chad Red (Nebraska) dec. No. 19 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) (Dec 6-5)
165 - No. 19 Justin McCoy (Virginia) dec. 14 Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia) (Dec 6-1)
174 - No. 19 Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State) dec. No. 14 Chris Foca (Cornell) (Dec 9-6)
184 - No. 19 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec. No. 14 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) (Dec 7-2)
149 - No. 18 Anthony Artalona (Pennsylvania) dec. No. 15 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) (Dec 3-2)
165 - No. 18 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) dec. No. 15 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) (Dec 6-3)
174 - No. 18 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) pin No. 15 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) (Fall 4:14)
197 - No. 18 Luke Stout (Princeton) dec. No. 15 Isaac Trumble (NC State) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 17 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec. No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State) (SV-1 4-2)
157 - No. 17 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) dec. No. 16 Brady Berge (Penn State), 2-1
197 - No. 17 Jay Aiello (Virginia) dec. No. 16 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) (SV-1 5-3)
Pigtails
125 - No. 33 Logan Ashton (Stanford) 8-5 dec. No. 32 Patrick McCormick (Virginia) (Dec 2-0)
157 - No. 33 Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 32 Jordan Slivka (Ohio) (Dec 10-4)
165 - No. 33 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec. No. 32 David Ferrante (Northwestern) (Dec 10-3)
174 - No. 33 Connor O`Neill (Rutgers) pin No. 32 Dominic Solis (Maryland) (Fall 2:15)
285 - No. 33 Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 32 Matthew Cover (Princeton) (Dec 2-0)
Still time to get the NCAA Mat Talk Online Div. I Guide
There are still five more sessions of NCAA wrestling to come, and it is still a great investment to get the NCAA Mat Talk OnLine Div. I Guide. You can quickly dig up stuff like:
• There are 108 Returning Div. I All-Americans in the tournament, plus two All-Americans from other divisions (Ashton Eyler of Lock Haven and Michial Foy of Minnesota, past NJCAA All-Americans).
• The largest tournament spread came in 1986, when Iowa finished 73.75 points ahead of Oklahoma in the standings.
• The top five teams standings in terms of NCAA titles are Oklahoma State (34), Iowa (24), Penn State (9), Iowa State (8) and Oklahoma (7). There are only 12 universities that have won a team title, with Arizona State the only one from out West.
• The state which produced the most NCAA qualifiers from the prep ranks is Pennsylvania (45), followed by Illinois (31) and New Jersey (30). There are two international entries with Younger Bastida of Iowa State (Cuba) and Ramazan Attasauov of Iowa State (Russian Federation).
It goes on and on for over 200 pages. To get the guide, use the link below.
https://mattalkonline.gumroad.com/l/fanguide22/usaw
Speaking of Foy, you might recognize the first name spelling and the last name. His dad is two-time Olympian and World Greco-Roman silver medalist Michial Foy, who also wrestled for Minnesota.
Host Michigan, the Big Ten champions, seeks the national team title on home mats
The NCAA Championships seem even more fun when the “local” team has a chance to win the team title. This year, Michigan fits the bill, as the Big Ten champion and among the true contenders for the champion trophy. Michigan has never won a team title here. They are 42 miles to the west of Detroit and punched nine into the nationals from the Big Ten Championships. The Wolverines got a technical fall from No. 1 Myles Amine (184), ajor decisions from No. 1 Nick Suriano (125), No. 3 Logan Massa (174) and No. 7 Mason Parris (285) plus decisions from No. 6 Dylan Ragusin (133), No. 8 Will Lewan (157), No. 6 Cameron Amine (165) and Patrick Brucki (197). Michigan dropped its first bout in Detroit at 141 pounds, where No. 9 seed Allan Hart of Missouri beat No. 24 seed (and Serbian Olympian) Stevan Micic, 7-3. It is way early, but Michigan stands in third place with 12.5 points, behind Penn State and Iowa.
197 pounds loaded with 14 All-Americans
Most of the weight classes have many All-Americans, but 197 pounds has the most with 14. Here they are, with their seeds: No. 1 Max Dean of Penn State, No. 2 Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming, No 3 Eric Schultz of Nebraska, No. 4 Patrick Brucki of Michigan, No 5 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt, No. 6 Jacob Warner of Iowa, No. 7 Rocky Elam of Missouri, No 8 Lou DePrez of Binghamton, No. 9 Cameron Caffey of Michigan State, No 12 Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State, No. 13 Jake Woodley of Oklahoma, No. 14 Greg Bulsak of Rutgers, No. 16 Kordell Norfleet of Arizona State and No. 17 Jay Aiello of Virginia. Obviously, they all didn’t survive session one, with a first-round win by No. 17 Jay Aiello over Kordell Norfleet. The other 197-pound past All-American to lose was No. 12 Sloan, who fell to No. 21 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State, 6-4 in sudden victory.
2020 Olympic medalists Steveson, Amine start strong
Occasionally, an NCAA tournament will feature an Olympic medalist who return to complete their college career. However, there are two competing this year with Gable Steveson of Minnesota (gold medal at 125 kg for Team USA) and Myles Amine (bronze medal at 86 kg for San Marino). The question – will they match or beat their Olympic placement at the NCAA’s this year? (Probably a good bet…) Steveson and Amine both opened with technical fall wins.
First pin and first technical fall in Detroit 2022
In case you were watching another mat, the first fall of the tournament was by Josh Mason of Bloomsburg, who pinned Dylan Cedeno of Virginia in 2:11 at 141 pounds in the pigtails, followed only by a few seconds with Connor O’Neill of Rutgers, who pinned Dominic Solis of Maryland in 2:15 in the pigtails at 174 pounds. (Note: after the match, both O’Neill and Solis both have losing records for the year, with O’Neill at 14-15 and Solis at 15-16.) The first technical fall came in the first round at 133 pounds, with Iowa’s Austin DeSanto putting away Sydney Flores of Air Force, 19-3 in 4:09.
Active Div I coaches and their number of NCAA Div. I titles
Cael Sanderson, Penn State – 8
John Smith, Oklahoma State – 5
Tom Brands, Iowa – 4
Tom Ryan, Ohio State – 1
There is also another active coach with three NCAA Div. I titles still on the sidelines, as former Iowa and Oregon State head coach Jim Zalesky is now the head coach at NAIA Jamestown University in North Dakota.
Tracking upsets, Session I
In our notes, we will post every “upset” each session, based upon seeds. The athletes with the best seed to lose this session were three No. 7 seeds. There was a returning national champion defeated in the first session, as No. 22 Dazjon Casto of The Citadel knocked off No. 11 Austin O`Connor of North Carolina in sudden victory. Here they are, in order of upsetness (is it a word? Probably not)
Session I upsets – lower seed beats higher seed in match
133 - No. 26 Matt Ramos (Purdue) pin No. 7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) (Fall 2:27)
141 - No. 26 Frankie Tal Shahar (Northwestern) dec. No. 7 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) (Dec 4-3)
174 - No. 26 Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec. No. 7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) (Dec 13-12)
125 - No. 25 Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec. No. 8 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) (Dec 8-5)
133 - No. 25 Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec. No. 8 RayVon Foley (Michigan State) (Dec 4-2)
174 - No. 25 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) dec. No. 8 Michael O`Malley (Drexel) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 24 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) (Dec 4-1)
157 - No. 22 Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) dec. No. 11 Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) (SV-1 8-2)
174 - No. 22 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) dec. No. 11 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) (Dec 3-1)
125 - No. 21 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) dec. No. 12 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) (Dec 7-2)
149 - No. 21 Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) dec. No. 12 Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) (Dec 7-5)
184 - No. 21 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) dec. No. 12 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) (SV-1 5-3)
197 - No. 21 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) dec. No. 12 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 20 Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) dec. No. 13 Drake Ayala (Iowa) (Dec 12-9)
141 - No. 20 Parker Filius (Purdue) dec. No. 13 Ian Parker (Iowa State) (MD 13-5)
141 - No. 19 Chad Red (Nebraska) dec. No. 19 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) (Dec 6-5)
165 - No. 19 Justin McCoy (Virginia) dec. 14 Joshua Ogunsanya (Columbia) (Dec 6-1)
174 - No. 19 Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State) dec. No. 14 Chris Foca (Cornell) (Dec 9-6)
184 - No. 19 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec. No. 14 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) (Dec 7-2)
149 - No. 18 Anthony Artalona (Pennsylvania) dec. No. 15 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) (Dec 3-2)
165 - No. 18 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) dec. No. 15 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) (Dec 6-3)
174 - No. 18 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) pin No. 15 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) (Fall 4:14)
197 - No. 18 Luke Stout (Princeton) dec. No. 15 Isaac Trumble (NC State) (SV-1 6-4)
125 - No. 17 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec. No. 16 Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State) (SV-1 4-2)
157 - No. 17 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) dec. No. 16 Brady Berge (Penn State), 2-1
197 - No. 17 Jay Aiello (Virginia) dec. No. 16 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) (SV-1 5-3)
Pigtails
125 - No. 33 Logan Ashton (Stanford) 8-5 dec. No. 32 Patrick McCormick (Virginia) (Dec 2-0)
157 - No. 33 Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 32 Jordan Slivka (Ohio) (Dec 10-4)
165 - No. 33 Matthew Olguin (Oregon State) dec. No. 32 David Ferrante (Northwestern) (Dec 10-3)
174 - No. 33 Connor O`Neill (Rutgers) pin No. 32 Dominic Solis (Maryland) (Fall 2:15)
285 - No. 33 Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 32 Matthew Cover (Princeton) (Dec 2-0)
Still time to get the NCAA Mat Talk Online Div. I Guide
There are still five more sessions of NCAA wrestling to come, and it is still a great investment to get the NCAA Mat Talk OnLine Div. I Guide. You can quickly dig up stuff like:
• There are 108 Returning Div. I All-Americans in the tournament, plus two All-Americans from other divisions (Ashton Eyler of Lock Haven and Michial Foy of Minnesota, past NJCAA All-Americans).
• The largest tournament spread came in 1986, when Iowa finished 73.75 points ahead of Oklahoma in the standings.
• The top five teams standings in terms of NCAA titles are Oklahoma State (34), Iowa (24), Penn State (9), Iowa State (8) and Oklahoma (7). There are only 12 universities that have won a team title, with Arizona State the only one from out West.
• The state which produced the most NCAA qualifiers from the prep ranks is Pennsylvania (45), followed by Illinois (31) and New Jersey (30). There are two international entries with Younger Bastida of Iowa State (Cuba) and Ramazan Attasauov of Iowa State (Russian Federation).
It goes on and on for over 200 pages. To get the guide, use the link below.
https://mattalkonline.gumroad.com/l/fanguide22/usaw
Speaking of Foy, you might recognize the first name spelling and the last name. His dad is two-time Olympian and World Greco-Roman silver medalist Michial Foy, who also wrestled for Minnesota.