Pictured: Ohio State's Sammy Sasso running out of the tunnel before his match with Zach Sherman (UNC) on November 7 at the Covelli Center. Photo by Sam Janicki / @SJanickiPhoto.
The 2021-2022 NCAA Division I wrestling season has officially gotten underway. Sure, many of the nation's best teams like Iowa. Penn State, Cornell, Oklahoma State, and others did not take to the mat week. Still, there was plenty of noteworthy developments in NCAA wrestling on the long-awaited and much-needed "Opening Weekend."
Here are six takeaways (in no particular order) from this past weekend (November 1 – November 7) in college wrestling.
Oklahoma Have Yourself a Day
In 2021, the Sooners shocked some people as the tied powerhouse Oklahoma State for the conference crown. The Sooners earned the right to call themselves the champion of the Big 12 Conference for the first time since 2002.
Well, this season, it appears Oklahoma has carried that momentum right into 2021-2022. Obviously, we don't want to over-hype a single event, but the Sooners were stellar at the Michigan State Open this weekend.
Joey Prata, Tony Madrigal, and Jake Woodley claimed titles, and Oklahoma wrestling had three other finalists in the Sooners' season opener at the Michigan State Open on Saturday. Additionally, Madrigal (133) and Wooley (197) authored two of the best individual performances of "Opening Weekend." Madrigal took out TOM No. 6, All-American Lucas Byrd of Illinois, No. 14 (125), All-American Rayvon Foley of host school Michigan State, and a very talented 2021 NCAA Qualifier in Dylan Ragusin of Michigan. What a trio of wins for the Sooner lightweight. At 197, teammate Jake Woodley beat a pair of All-Americans in No. 9 Patrick Brucki and No. 12 Cam Caffey to win it all. It was surprising to see some of the best MSU Spartan stars struggle in their home gym. But, it's early.
Welcome Back, Austin Gomez
Injuries can be a terrible thing. No one knows this reality better than newly-transferred Wisconsin Badger Austin Gomez. Gomez was a blue-chip recruit for the Iowa State Cyclones years back. While under Kevin Dresser, Gomez was 8-0 as a redshirt (2018) and 24-7 as a redshirt freshman in 2019, making it to the Round of 12 at NCAAs in Pittsburgh. Since the 2019 NCAAs, Gomez hasn't taken to the college mat. Thankfully, Austin got back to the mat on November 1, 2021, against Buffalo. He won his first match in more than 31 months, 9-4, and looked dominant doing so.
Sam Latona Stunned
Virginia Tech's Sam Latona is no stranger to big moments. As a redshirt freshman last year in 2021, the Alabaster, Alabama, native, was 14-3 en route to a year that saw Latona become a 2021 ACC champion, the 2021 ACC Freshman of the Year, and a 2021 NCAA All-American to cap it all off. Plus, he was responsible for one of the most memorable moments of the 2021 dual meet season. Latona secured a last-second takedown and near-fall to stun NC State's Camacho at the buzzer to win the match and the dual on tiebreaker to claim the Hokies' fourth ACC Dual Meet Title.
Well, he was upended in the Southeast Open finals against Columbia's Joe Manchio, 10-8, in what was likely the biggest upset of Week One. Manchio, a 2020 EIWA Championships runner-up, couldn't have asked for a better start to his season, especially after missing all of last year to COVID-19. The Columbia Lion is well on his way to being a ranked wrestler.
High Schoolers Shine at College Opens
College Opens like Michigan State Open, Clarion Open, Southeast Open (formerly Hokie Open) are unique. They allow us to watch redshirts compete at college events during a season of limited competition. In rare instances, they provide a chance to see how elite high schoolers stack up against Division I competition.
And, boy, did some high schoolers take advantage of their opportunity this weekend. Future Ohio State Buckeye Nick Feldman was 3-0, storming to a Clarion Open finals berth before defaulting out. Feldman looked dominant in his three matches, even taking out a 2021 NCAA Qualifier in Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) in the quarterfinals. Feldman proved why he is a top recruit in the Class of 2022.
Caleb Henson (Cartersville, GA), the top 152-pounder in the nation, earned himself a Southeast Open title a year before arriving on campus in Blacksburg. He was 4-0 on the weekend, including a 12-0 decision in the finals.
Forfeits Galore at Open Tournaments
Unfortunately, one of the "dark clouds" on the weekend was the number of athletes that defaulted out of the brackets for non-injury-related reasons. I'll keep this short to avoid ranting about the issue.
If you must forfeit due to injury, that is fine. If you forfeit to avoid wrestling a teammate, I don't love it, but I can understand the decision at least.
What I cannot understand, though, is traveling to an Open, picking up two wins, defaulting out, and heading home. Defaulting out because you don't want to face a conference foe or to save an athlete a loss for postseason seeding is silly.
Even if your athlete is likely to lose, let them wrestle. Even with a loss, they'll learn and be better equipped for a rematch down the line. Ducking a tough match now doesn't do an athlete any favors mentally or physically at this stage of the season. Winning a conference or national title isn't easy. There will be tough matches. Why duck the tough match now?
North Carolina at Ohio State – Dual of the Week
The Tar Heels vs. Buckeyes was a quality dual and probably the most compelling of the weekend across Division I. We got to see an NCAA champ (Austin O'Connor) and an NCAA finalist (Sammy Sasso) in action, plus an absolute barn-burner at 141, with Kizhan Clark (UNC) defeat Jordan Decatur (OSU), 3-1 in overtime. Carson Kharchla also made a much-anticipated varsity debut.
Selfishly, I would have loved to see Sasso bump up for what would have been an electric 2021 NCAA finals rematch with Austin O'Connor on his home turf. Sadly, that didn't happen. And, if you remember the lineup tinkering prior to the tri-meet with Iowa and Purdue last year, the decision to not bump Sasso shouldn't be a surprise to anyone reading this. Still, Sasso's win over a top-5 guy in Zach Sherman is nothing to scoff at either.
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