Big Ten Wrestling Takeaways after Week 12 of 2023-24 regular season

The latest weekend in Big Ten wrestling is in the books and there are definitely some big takeaways that you may or may not have noticed.

The usual suspects such as Penn State just continue to find new ways to amaze fans don’t they? Also, can we note how great duals are to showcase new and up and coming stars in this sport? March will be wild.

Let’s dive into this week’s Big Ten wrestling takeaways.

Penn State solved its 125 pound problem

The freshman Braeden Davis is the solution to this problem for the Nittany Lions. Once upon a time, the Nittany Lions had future national champion Nick Suriano at this weight.

But an ankle injury, a transfer and national titles at Rutgers and Michigan later, Penn State still couldn’t figure out his replacement. Davis looks like that dude. He’s 11-0 on the season following wins over favored Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) and Michigan State’s Tristan Lujan. With how wild this weight class is this season, would anyone be surprised to see him in the NCAA finals in March?

Purdue’s stars show out once again

Matt Ramos pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory by beating Spencer Lee (Iowa) in last year’s NCAA semifinals. He flirted with the No. 1 ranking this year and went into the weekend No. 2. But he knocked off No. 1 Drake Ayala of, yes, Iowa Friday and got another win Sunday to improve to 17-3. He’s likely the new No. 1 guy, again.

Not only that, Purdue has a true podium contender in true freshman Joey Blaze at 157. He came up short against Iowa’s Jared Franek, one of the national title contenders, but knocked off one of them in Nebraska’s Peyton Robb. He got the fall in the third period. That’s the type of win that could catapult him up a level down the stretch.

Dylan Ragusin vs. Dylan Shawver might be the most fun 133 matchup

Ragusin (Michigan) beat Shawver (Rutgers) for the second time this season in a battle of top eight guys at the weight. The Wolverine won 8-5 Sunday after trailing early and it set the tone for Michigan’s 23-10 win over Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights’ first conference loss this year.

Moving forward, these two are bound to see each other in the Big Ten Tournament right? We all know how drama ends up unfolding at NCAAs as well. There’s no way we can rule out these two to wrestle two more times before the season is up. The speed, athleticism, offensive capability, scrambling ability, both guys have it all.

Maryland’s Jaxon Smith is for real

The Maryland sophomore 197 pounder is now 12-2 on the season and was ranked No. 5 in the country going into the weekend. His only losses this year are to No. 4 Trent Hidlay (NC State) and No. 11 Stephen Little (Little Rock) by three and four points, respectively. 

A rising program, Maryland has a big time podium threat in the upperweights and he should be noted. He earned a 4-1 sudden victory win over Gabe Sollars (Indiana) to keep it rolling. This is a guy who lost in the Blood Round last year and could very well finish high on the podium this year.

Jesse Mendez is a national title threat for Ohio State 

Mendez is now 17-1 and was ranked No. 3 going into the weekend. The only two guys in front of him are Real Woods (Iowa) and Beau Bartlett (Penn State). Safe to say, the Big Ten Tournament will be nuts.

Mendez finished sixth at 133 pounds last year but he’s blossomed up a weight as a sophomore. It’ll be interesting to see how he matches up with the two in front of him, but there’s no doubt he established himself as a legitimate national title contender through nearly 20 matches this season. Keep your eyes out.

Boy things are just heating up aren’t they? The Big Ten is the premier conference in wrestling for a reason: drama and intensity every single match! It’s only going to get crazier as we approach February.