Opening Weekend Round-Up (11/2/2026)
The 2026-27 college season is officially underway. There were a couple of events on Saturday, but the season really got going on Sunday with a handful of tournaments and a smattering of duals. Plus, we had the morning appetizer of the World Championships and Team USA’s win Sunday morning.
This season will be different from its predecessors. With the NCAA’s five-for-five ruling, there will be no more redshirting or medical years. That means there isn’t the “will they, won’t they?” debut surrounding potential redshirts in November. The potential fight between teammates for a starting spot will be viewed a bit differently this year. Did the freshman who got the call in the first dual or won the open tournament get a leg up on his veteran counterpart? Are these dual starts or results indicative of how the coaching staff views the internal pecking order? Or maybe there’s an injury at play?
This season is already shaping up to be one of the most intriguing in some time and the eligibility changes should only help enhance the excitement.
With so much going on there’s bound to be a result or an upset you might have missed. With that in mind, let’s take a spin around the country to look at the first weekend of collegiate action.
Duals
Purdue had a 24-12 win over Kent State, which could be viewed as a decent result for both squads. Redshirt freshman Vincent Paino (Purdue) posted an 11-2 major decision over #33 Nick Molchak (Kent State). The Golden Flashes got wins at 125 (Adan Benavidez), 149 (Nate Roth), 157 (Reese Stephen), and 285 (Brentan Simmerman).
Michigan got off to a fast start with a 50-0 shutout of VMI. True freshman Henry Aslikyan (125) and Moses Mendoza (133) won via fall. Kellan Wolbert (141) and Niko Sahakian got major decisions. I’ve stated multiple times that Michigan could fly up the rankings if two or three of their freshmen are really good. The jury is still out on them, but it was a good start.
Wisconsin rolled to a 32-7 win over Bloomsburg, but the most notable result came at 165 lbs as Bloomsburg’s Morgan Schwarz majored national qualifier #21 Cody Goebel.
American swept the Chippewa Challenge, a dual meet series that featured the DI teams led by Central Michigan graduates. Freshman Reagan Milheim stood out with two falls, while AU’s first two wrestlers #29 JJ Peace (125) and Collin Martin, went 2-0. Martin picked up an impressive 15-3 major decision victory over #28 Andrew Austin (Central Michigan).
Sunday concluded with Iowa State getting a 29-12 win over Bucknell in Brent Metcalf’s debut as the Cyclones head coach. We’ll have to monitor the 184/197 lb situation for the Cyclones. Sawyer Bartelt and Brayden Thompson got the call at those weights, respectively. Both suffered losses against two of the Bison’s top wrestlers.
Southeast Open
Louie Gill won the 125 lb weight class with a major decision victory over #27 Travis Clawson (Chattanooga) and a 7-2 win over #11 Nicolar Rivera (Maryland).
One of the positional battles to monitor going forward is Virginia Tech at 165 lbs. Word out of Blacksburg was that Noah Nininger might be ahead in that race; however, incumbent Mac Church got the head-to-head win in the tournament finals.
There was a top 20 scuffle at 174 lbs in the finals as #18 Ryan Burton (Virginia Tech) defeated #20 Colin Kelly (Illinois). Burton redshirted in 2026-27 and won a U20 world bronze medal over the summer.
Lots of chaos and shenanigans at 184 lbs! West Virginia’s Ian Bush won the title with wins over Sergio DeSiante (Virginia Tech) and Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State). Brooker had an earlier win over returning ACC champion Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech). In an all-Hokie third-place match, Bullock got by DeSiante, 6-3.
Clarion Open
Ohio State finished with the top three wrestlers at 125 lbs. Vinny Kilkeary won the weight class with a 8-3 decision over Dom Munaretto. Munaretto’s fellow freshman Antonio Mills was third. This is probably a weight to watch going forward, as the two freshmen are both highly ranked coming into Columbus.
All-American Carter Nogle (Air Force) won the 141 lb bracket; however, that’s probably not the biggest story from this weight. #9 Nic Bouzakis’ (Ohio State) debut at this weight went pretty badly as he took sixth place, losing to unranked Brogan Fielding (Ohio State), Keagan Oler (Clarion), and Smokey McClure (Utah Valley). He’s moving up after spending the 2025-26 season at 125 lbs and is ideally a 133 lber.
Speaking of debuts at new weights, Jaxon Smith appeared for the first time in an Ohio State singlet and also at 174 lbs, a collegiate low for him. Marcus Espinoza-Owens (Utah Valley) used a third-period takedown to defeat the #4 ranked Smith in the finals.
Cowboy Invitational
Oklahoma State got to flex their muscles and show off their depth at multiple weight classes in a small, bracketed tournament. They also showed off their #1 overall recruiting class and a handful of first-year freshmen impressed.
In a top-10 matchup at 133 lbs, top-ranked Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) teched #9 TK Davis (Gardner-Webb).
It was a successful collegiate debut for Jayden Raney (Oklahoma State) at 141 lbs. He grabbed the title by edging Cowboy teammate Tagen Jamison, 6-5 in the finals.
At 165 lbs, two-time All-American Casey Swiderski’s (Oklahoma State) debut his new weight was a good one. He defeated teammate and returning starter Ladarion Lockett, 4-3.
Oklahoma State’s returning starter at 174 lbs, Alex Facundo, held serve and defeated Stanford transfer Lorenzo Norman, 7-5.
With such a star-studded Oklahoma State recruiting class, perhaps Mikey White got overlooked by wrestling fans. White made sure that wouldn't happen going forward as he beat All-American and new transfer Bennett Berge, 10-4.
There was a weird result at 197 lbs as #3 Stephen Little (Little Rock) captured the title with an injury default victory in tiebreakers over #2 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State). Merrill defeated Little in tiebreakers last year in the NCAA semifinals.
At heavyweight, Dreshaun Ross teched his way to the title, defeating #31 Bryson Buhk (SIU Edwardsville) in the finals.
Princeton Open
The 133 lb weight class has some depth at Stanford. Freshman Siraj Sidhu won the bracket with victories over #19 Jake Crapps (Army West Point) and Joe Uhorchuk (Army West Point). Uhorchuk was a huge recruit for Army and is expected to push Crapps for the starting role or perhaps move down to 125 lbs. In addition to Sidhu, Stanford also has returning All-American Tyler Knox at this weight.
Luke Stanich showed why he’s the top-ranked 141 lber in the land. He dispatched #8 Jack Consiglio (Stanford) by a tech fall in the championship bout.
Another fight for a starting spot to monitor should happen with Stanford at 165 lbs. EJ Parco is the returning starter; he moved up multiple weights to fill at 165 lbs and ended up making the NCAA bloodround. Parco was majored by teammate Grigor Cholakyan in the semifinals. Penn’s Sean Seefeldt ended up winning the weight.
Once again, Stanford’s depth was on display at 174 lbs as Collin Guffey took out #25 Gunner Filipowicz (Army West Point) in sudden victory. The Cardinal is also expected to have two-time AA Hunter Garvin at this weight.
More competition for Stanford at 184 lbs. Returning national qualifier, Abe Wojcikiewicz, ended up fifth at this weight. Teammate and freshman Slava Shahbazyan won the bracket, though the two did not meet. Shahbazyan did beat Round of 12 finisher Rylan Rogers (Lehigh) and Shay Addison (Rider); Addison got a win over Wojcikiewicz.
Navy Classic
The 149 pool stood out as it featured three wrestlers with NCAA experience. The highest-ranked of the group, #13 Kal Miller (Pittsburgh) suffered losses to the other two - #18 Lucas Kapusta (Lock Haven) and AJ Rallo (Bellarmine). Kapusta ended up losing to Miller’s teammate Eugene Harney, who also defeated Miller in their intersquad bout.
Last season started with Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) and Spencer Lanosga (Navy) meeting in a dual and then the next day at the Navy Classic. This year they clashed again, but Pitzer came out on top, 5-2. While Lanosga got the two early-season wins in 2025-26, Pitzer got revenge at NCAA’s and did so again on Sunday.
