Big Ten Wrestling takeaways after Week 13 of the regular season
The latest weekend of Big Ten wrestling is in the books and there were eye-popping moments throughout the duals Friday to Sunday.
Some teams remained their dominant selves and there were some surprises across multiple weight classes. This is normal isn’t it? Wrestling having chaos?
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the wrestling action in the Big Ten this weekend!
Ohio State showcased grit in win over Michigan
The Buckeyes played host to their rival and won the dual 20-19 with redshirt freshman heavyweight Nick Feldman knocking off All-American Lucas Davison in the final bout. It didn’t look good with Ohio State needing three wins in a row after former national champion Shane Griffith seemed to give Michigan an insurmountable lead.
But hey, that’s why you wrestle. Ohio State is down guys like Sammy Sasso for the season, Carson Kharchla (seemingly for the season) and Gavin Hoffman. Credit Ryder Rogotzke, Luke Geog and Feldman for winning three in a row down 19-9. Rogotzke earned a tech fall to set it up nicely for his teammates.
Minnesota out-toughed Rutgers late
The Golden Gophers, on paper, were up against it against the Scarlet Knights, who have never beaten Minnesota. Without No. 6 Isaiah Salazar at 184, Rutgers had the advantage. However, Max McEnelly and Garrett Joles pulled off upsets over Brian Soldano and John Poznanski at 184 and 197 to set the stage for the win.
Rutgers looked to pull off the upset as a team, but fell victim at the upper weights and 133 pounder Dylan Shawver went down to Tyler Wells. Everything set up for the Scarlet Knights, but Minnesota proved why it’s always been one of the blue bloods in the Big Ten.
Nebraska has a bunch of dogs this season
The Huskers blew out a rebuilding Northwestern team Friday, 39-3, but came back to pretty much control Wisconsin on the road. That was the bigger surprise.
Nebraska has No. 1 Ridge Lovett at 149, No. 5 Dean Hamiti at 165 and No. 3 Lenny Pinto, giving them plenty of contenders. As a dual team? Those have sparked the entire lineup. Penn State, Iowa, yeah we know. Nebraska could be contending for a trophy at NCAAs.
Aaron Brooks is on a different level and it’s not even close
In a matchup of top five guys this weekend, Penn State’s Aaron Brooks, the No. 1 at 197 and three-time NCAA champion, majored No. 5 Jaxon Smith (Maryland). It was the highlight bout in a 42-6 win over Maryland.
But, it wasn’t even close once the two guys hit the mat. Yes, Smith is an exciting sophomore and should be in prime All-American contention. But man, Brooks is just too good. It’ll be a shock if he doesn’t win his fourth NCAA title and first at 197. His teammate Carter Starocci also got a fall at 174 and looks for his fourth NCAA title as well.
It seems there’s a debate as to who’s more dominant or who’s better overall. Right now, it’s Brooks. It’s truly remarkable to watch him wrestle anybody thrown in front of him with ease.
The calendar is set to turn to February and wrestling dual meets are coming down to the wire. It’s the final stretch before the conference and NCAA Tournaments!