Category: Wrestling

Ohio State wrestler Jesse Mendez wins Big Ten Championship

A bit of an unexpected Big Ten title for Mendez over the No. 1 seed! #GoBucks

One of the Ohio State wrestlers is bringing home a Big Ten Championship at the 141 lb. weight class. Jesse Mendez, the No. 2 seed, sprung an upset of No. 1 seed Beau Bartlett of Penn State to take home the title, with a 4-1 decision in dramatic fashion.

The entire match was basically a stale mate with both wrestlers getting one point for an escape until Mendez was able to get a very late take down with a urgent move that seemed to surprise the undefeated Nittany Lions’ grappler. It was so late in the contest that Bartlett had little to no chance of making up the differential and Mendez held on easily to win his first Big Ten championship.

Mendez will now head to nationals to try and bring home the biggest prize of a national championship. Congrats are very much in order.

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Jesse Mendez, Nick Feldman to wrestle for Big Ten title Sunday

Let’s cheer on these two Buckeyes that have a shot at a Big Ten title on the mat Sunday. #GoBucks

It hasn’t been a banner performance for the Ohio State wrestling team at the Big Ten Championships, but the team does have two wrestlers that will be competing for a Big Ten title on Sunday

At 141 lbs., No. 2 seed Jesse Mendez took care of business with a  6-3 win over No. 3 seed Real Woods of Iowa thanks in large part to a last second take down. He will face No. 1 seed Beau Bartlett of Penn State.

In the heavyweight class, redshirt Nick Feldman took down Michigan’s Lucas Davison 8-6 as the No. 2 seed over No. 3. He will take on No. 1 seed Greg Kerkvliet, also of Penn State.

Both matches are set to take place during session IV at 4:30 PM ET. As a team, Ohio State sits in fifth place with a chance to make up some ground with several matches on Sunday.

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Watch: Girl wrestler becomes 1st to win Arizona state championship against boys

Arizona high school wrestler Audrey Jimenez become the first girl to win an Arizona state title against boys, and then followed with a Pan-Am medal.

A senior high school wrestler in Tucson, Arizona, made history last week as she became the first girl to win the state’s top title while competing against boys.

Audrey Jimenez of Sunnyside High School (Tucson, Ariz.) won the Division I title at 106 pounds against male competitors, defeating four opponents to help the team win its seventh straight boys’ team championship.

Jimenez, who won three straight girls individual championships, filed an appeal with the Arizona Interscholastic Association to wrestle on the boys side this year. She and Everest Leydecker of Desert Vista (Phoenix) were given the go-ahead to compete against boys.

“For me, wrestling against the boys is going to test me a little bit more,” Jimenez told the Arizona Republic in December. “Either way, wrestling against the boys or the girls, I’m happy to represent Sunnyside.”

See highlights of her victory here:

According to FloWrestling, Sunnyside won with 312 points and had 13 total placers, eight of whom were champions.

Just days later, she was back on the mat in the Pan-American Championships, securing third place against Canadian Katie Dutchak.

It was a remarkable way to tie a bow on a dynamic high school wrestling career. Jimenez, a top wrestling recruit, could have graduated early but chose to stay for her senior season in hopes of competing in the boys division, according to FloWrestling. Her decision and hard work paid off.

Who are the 4 Iowa football commits competing in the state wrestling tournament?

Iowa football continues to look at wrestling for recruits, with Trent Cakerice, Drew Campbell, Cody Fox and Mason Knipp competing in the state championship.

Defense. Toughness. “Punting is winning.” Iowa’s football team thrives on physicality, and for that, it’s unsurprising that head coach Kirk Ferentz takes a page out of the Hawkeyes’ dominant wrestling program in his recruiting efforts.

“The theory I developed was that if a guy was a great wrestler, it didn’t mean he was going to be a great football player, but rarely was he a bad football player,” Ferentz said.

Four Hawkeyes football commits in the class of 2024 are participating in the Iowa state wrestling tournament, and the Des Moines Register did a deep dive on the quartet.

Trent Cakerice, a two-star defensive lineman from Grundy Center, told the outlet he’s focusing on strength and calculated attacks. He has a 38-4 record. On the gridiron, he recorded 56.5 tackles, eight tackles for loss and seven sacks.

Drew Campbell of Cedar Falls told the Register that wrestling helps him in football.

“Leverage is a great thing to have in wrestling. It teaches you feel in football and mentally in a wrestling match you can’t give up, so it teaches you to never give up on a play,” he said.

Last football season, the three-star defensive lineman recorded 64.5 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss and six sacks.

East Buchanan’s four-star lineman Cody Fox served on both lines last season, playing offensive guard for a dynamic rushing team and recording 62.5 tackles, nine tackles for loss and two sacks on defense. He was recruited as an offensive lineman, for which he is ranked four stars and in the top 20 of his class.

Mason Knipp, at Columbus Catholic, also played on both sides of the ball. Despite being unranked, he played a role in the rushing attack that amounted for 2,022 yards and had 78 tackles, 36.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks on defense.

Read more about the athletes at the Des Moines Register.

Ohio State wrestling falls to No. 1 Penn State

In case you missed it, it was just too much Penn State. #GoBucks

There was hope for the young Ohio State wrestling team to pull off the shocker, but in the end, there was just too much talent on the mat for No. 1 Penn State in a 28-9 loss for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State got just two of the ten victories in the dual-meet set up, a 12-10 decision at at 141 pounds for Nic Bouzakis, and then a pin for Ryder Rogotzke at 184 pounds. Penn State controlled the rest of the meet and was never really threatened, winning five decisions, getting two major decisions, and one technical fall.

It was the first Big Ten loss for the No. 6 ranked OSU wrestlers and continued quite the run for the Penn State program who is currently on a two-year national title streak and looks like the team to beat again this year.

Ohio State must now pick itself up and get ready to face No. 14 Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday.

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Ohio State heavyweight Nick Feldman named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

After a thrilling and dramatic upset win last weekend, OSU’s Nick Feldman received this Big Ten honor. #GoBucks

What a week it was for the Ohio State wrestling team. Down quite a few key players going into a matchup with Michigan, the Buckeyes fell down by ten points in the dual-meet on two separate occasions only to battle back and force a winner-take-all final heavyweight match between OSU’s Nick Feldman and Michigan’s No. 4 ranked Lucas Davison.

It was a close battle, but Feldman got a late takedown to pull off the 4-3 upset and give the Buckeyes a 20-19 dual-meet win over arch-rival Michigan this past weekend.

And now, for all of his efforts, Feldman was named the Big Ten’s Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday. It’s the fourth time this season a wrestler wearing a Scarlet and Gray singlet took home the weekly award.

Things get very difficult for the 12-1 Buckeyes on Friday as they travel to Happy Valley to take on No. 1 Penn State Friday. They’ll need the same type of effort and more to have any shot of staying with the best program in America right now.

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Watch: Middle school (!) wrestling parents fight in the stands

Wrestling parents fight.

In the do-or-die world of New Jersey middle school wrestling, even parents get in on the action.

It is unclear what happened at this event in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. And just want to underscore once again that this was a middle school match.

There isn’t much to be said here about this incident, right? While the start of the melee is unclear, the fallout seems rather significant.

Punches being thrown, coaches yelling. Parents streaming onto the floor. The dual-meet is stopped. Kids watching parents go at it.

This isn’t what wrestling should be about at any level.

New Jersey is a premier wrestling state, routinely funneling athletes top programs such as Penn State, Iowa, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, Rutgers as well as the Ivy League. Wrestling is taken seriously in New Jersey, but this is unwarranted at any level.

(Warning: There is some adult language in this video. Viewer discretion is advised).

 

The actual cause of the fight remains a bit murky. A scan of social media only seems to involve fingerpointing at a group of fans, but leads nowhere in terms of the cause for the fighting between the parents.

Ohio State wrestling knocks off Michigan in come-from-behind match

A thrilling and dramatic victory over TTUN! #GoBucks

Things didn’t look so great for the young Ohio State wrestling team at times on Friday night vs. No. 11 Michigan. Twice, the Buckeyes, who were without three of their starters, fell down by ten points. Twice, the scarlet and gray got up off the mat literally and figuratively to reel the Wolverines back in.

Michigan jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead by winning its first two matches at 125 and 133 lbs., but then OSU got on the board thanks to a forfeit at 141 pounds that gave No. 3 ranked Jesse Mendez a 6-0 victory. The Wolverines would bounce back however by winning the next two matches, a 17-6 decision at 149 lbs. and a 5-2 victory at 157 lbs., and just like that the Buckeyes were down 16-6.

Bryce Hepner would close the gap with a 12-10 decision at 165 lbs. to make it 16-9, but then Michigan would almost put things away by winning the 174 lb. matchup 2-1 to again go up by ten with a score of 19-9. From there, Ohio State would have to pull off some magic with two of the last three matches being against higher ranked and favored matchups.

Ohio State got it done though, first at 184 lbs. when Ryder Rogotzge defeated No. 15 Jaden Bullock by technical fall to cut the score to 19-14. That was followed by OSU’s Luke Geog holding serve at 197 lbs. to tighten things up at a 19-17 Michigan advantage with just the heavyweights to go.

No. 16 Luke Feldman was a heavy underdog against No. 4 Lucas Davison, but he found a way with a late takedown to pull off the shocking 4-3 decision to give the Buckeyes a 20-19 dual-meet win.

The win keeps Ohio State undefeated in the conference at 4-0 and improves its overall record to 12-1. The Buckeyes have the daunting task of taking on No. 1 Penn State next weekend.

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‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star Joe Gorga confronts referee at his son’s wrestling match

Joe Gorga stormed onto the gym floor to confront a referee following his son’s wrestling match.

Reality television stars are often accused of acting for the cameras. But there was nothing fake about ‘Real Housewives of New Jersey’ star Joe Gorga and his outburst at his son’s wrestling match.

Following a decision that went against his son, who wrestles for Ramapo High School (New Jersey), Gorga angrily walked out onto the mat to confront the referee. It took several members of the Ramapo coaching staff to escort Gorga away from the referee and out of the arena.

According to reporting from NorthJersey.com, Gorga was told by the referee to leave the gymnasium.

Per TMZ, who broke this story, Gorga apparently took issue with what an eyewitness claimed was “Gino’s opponent that day excessively slammed him on the mat not once, but twice — and not just that, but he shot a dirty look at Joe upon being declared the winner.”

Gino Gorga lost the match by decision.

At the end of the video, the opponent from Parsippany Hills (New Jersey) who wrestled Gorga’s son appeared to be taunting as he was leaving the mat.

Dynasty Starter: Iowa Women’s Wrestling wins 2024 NWCA Duals National Championship

The dynasty is officially underway! The Iowa Hawkeyes women’s wrestling team has won the 2024 NWCA Duals National Championship.

Somebody get the pen and ink ready to start writing the story of another Iowa Hawkeyes dynasty because it is officially underway. The Iowa Hawkeyes women’s wrestling team has won the 2024 NWCA Duals National Championship.

In Iowa fashion, the ladies rolled to a title this year with a regular season that was complete and utter dominance in the way to be expected by Iowa wrestling.

On the year, the Hawkeyes went a perfect 9-0 on the year in duals. They ran through the NWCA Championships in dominant fashion with wins over Adrian College, Presbyterian, King University, and North Central College.

Up next for the Hawkeyes is the Iowa Duals on Jan. 21 in Iowa City followed by the Indiana Tech Warrior Duals on Jan. 26 and 27.

Things continue for the women when the NCWWC Regionals get underway on Feb. 23 and 24 which lead into the NCWWC National Championships on March 8 and 9.

This appears to be just the beginning for the Iowa Hawkeyes women’s wrestling team as a dynasty is ready to get underway and be built into a national powerhouse. The support is there, the talent is undeniable, and things are off to a start that while expected, could not be going any better.

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