Tag: Dylan Shawver

Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale on Big Ten champ Dylan Shawver: ‘He believes he can win this tournament’

Dylan Shawver won the Big Ten Tournament at 133 pounds and now goes into the NCAA Wrestling Championships as a favorite.

Fresh off a successful Big Ten Tournament where seven from his team outright qualified for the NCAA Tournament, Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale has the task to center and focus his squad on a bigger task ahead.

With the NCAA Wrestling Championships kicking off this week, Rutgers has the legitimate chance to place several wrestlers as All-Americans. But the attention will be the brightest on Dylan Shawver.

Shawver is the fourth-seed at 133 pounds and is fresh off taking the title at the Big Ten Tournament. He is one of eight wrestlers from Rutgers who qualified for the NCAA championships but his situation heading into this week is unique.

As a conference champion, Shawver must now his turn his focus back to once again competing. As the Big Ten Tournament champion at 133 pounds, he enters the NCAA championships with a target on his back.

“The biggest thing for me from a staff standpoint is getting off that high,” Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale said on a conference call this week.

“It’s one of the harder things we have to deal with is getting off the highs with the Big Ten Tournament and getting right back in the mindset of  ‘Let’s get ready for the national tournament’ because the Big Ten is over .Of course, it’s great when there’s momentum when you’ve wrestled well, and you’re training well,

“He’s (Shawver) done that – he’s really, really trained well. I really think he wants the tournament….he believes he can win this tournament. So that’s that’s our job and that’s really, really important.

“But at the end of the day, it all starts over around. 11 o’clock Thursday morning. He’s got a very difficult match. So that’s the way we got to move on and that’s the way to approach it. And he’s super confident but you got to get off of what happened two weeks ago and really lock in on to what’s about to take place. These next – I shouldn’t say these next three days but the three days Thursday, Friday, Saturday – nothing can happen unless you get the first one.”

Shawver is 22-5 on the season and looks very comfortable at 133 pounds. He will start the NCAA Wrestling Championships against No. 29 Jace Koelzer (Oklahoma).

Rutgers wrestling’s Scott Goodale praises in-form Dylan Shawver: ‘He’s a gangster…He loves to compete’

Rutgers wrestling is getting a hot run of form from Dylan Shawver.

Dylan Shawver is peaking at the right time for Rutgers wrestling. On Friday night, the redshirt junior took home another Big Ten win at 133 pounds.

Shawver has been impressive his last three matches, beating Penn State’s Aaron Nagao (ranked sixth nationally) and then his Friday night win over No. 16 Braxton Brown that featured three takedowns.

He has beaten three straight-ranked opponents.

On Friday night, Rutgers rolled to a 27-12 win at home over Maryland. Shawver defeated No. 9 Braxton Brown 9-5. he has secured back-to-back top 10 wins this week.

“He’s worked at it. He’s really good. He’s always been really good. I think maybe 125 was a stretch for him,” Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale told reporters on Friday following the win over Maryland.

“That kind of took away a little bit of his wrestling. I think concentrating totally on one weight is good. He also got a little banged up last year but Dylan’s always been good. He’s beaten a lot of these guys through the freestyle ranks. The Penn State guy, (Aaron) Nagao he’s beaten, (Michael) Colaiocco he’s beaten. He’s had a ton of huge wins. He’s a gangster. He believes he could beat everybody. That’s the coolest part about it. He loves to compete.”

The victory over Maryland snaps a four-match losing streak for Rutgers, all in Big Ten action. Rutgers is now 11-5 and finishes their Big Ten regular season schedule with a 4-4 record.

[lawrence-related id=35403,35128,35398]

Shawver should make a jump in the individual rankings for Rutgers, who close out the season on Wednesday in a home match-up with Bloomsburg.

“He doesn’t get a chance to wrestle Wednesday. That’s his last match. You are only allowed 16 bouts so he won’t wrestle on Wednesday. He’ll start his preparation Sunday,” Goodale said.

“Every single time he wants to wrestle. He wants to compete. He’s a competitor. He’ll be in the thick of every single match going forward from here until March 20th for sure.”

Following the mid-week meeting with Bloomsburg, Rutgers will next wrestle at the Big Ten Championships, hosted this year by Maryland.

Rutgers Dylan Shawver finished second in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championship

Rutgers No. 26 Dylan Shawver earned second place at the 2023 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships while wrestling in the 133-pound weight class.

On Saturday, Rutgers wrestler Dylan Shawver earned second place at the 2023 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships while wrestling in the 133-pound weight class. Shawver defeated back-to-back ranked foes, No. 44 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin) and No. 11 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly), to advance to the championship match, receiving his first Midlands’ silver medal.

Shawver entered the tournament ranked No. 26 nationally.

As the No. 4 seed in the tournament, Shawver captured four wins, including ranked wins over No. 19 Julian Chlebove (Arizona State), No. 11 Zeth Romney, and No. 44 Zan Fugitt. Shawver would lose to Michigan’s three-time NCAA qualifier Dylan Ragusin, 4-1, to earn a runner-up finish.

[lawrence-related id=32976]

 

The Lorain, Ohio native was a 2022 NCAA qualifier and a 2022 Big Ten Championships place winner. Shawver has registered a 47-22 record with a 68.12 win percentage in four years with the Scarlet Knights.

[lawrence-related id=33638,33449]

So far this season, Shawver has an 8-2 record as a junior. During the 2022-23 season, Shawver wrestled to a 12-5 record within the 125-pound weight class before missing the rest of the season due to injury. According to the InterMat rankings, Shawver is ranked No. 26 in the country within the 133-pound weight class this season.

The No. 12 Scarlet Knights return to action on January 6 when they travel to Philadelphia to take on No. 19 Penn.

[lawrence-related id=33299]

Rutgers wrestling Dylan Shawver to represent Team Puerto Rico at the U23 World Championships

On October 23-24, 2023, Rutgers wrestling Dylan Shawver will represent Team Puerto Rico at the U23 World Championships.

On October 23-24, 2023, Rutgers wrestling Dylan Shawver will represent Team Puerto Rico at the U23 World Championships. The tournament location is yet determined, but Shawver, entering his fourth season with the Scarlet Knights, will compete in the 61-kilogram (135 Ibs.) weight class during the freestyle tournament. 

Shawver participated in the Big Ten Championship and qualified for the NCAA tournament last season. According to InterMat, the Ohio native from Lorain, Ohio, enters the 2023-24 collegiate season ranked No. 16 in the 133 weight class. In 2022, the junior wrestler ranked as high as No. 18 in the country while wrestling in the 125 weight class. He finished with a 15-5 record, producing 23 wins last season. Also, Shawver finished seventh at the 2022 Big Ten Championships and a bid to nationals.

[lawrence-related id=29300]

In three seasons at Rutgers, Shawver has won 39 matches and is one of 10 Scarlet Knights to appear in the 2023 preseason rankings by InterMat. According to the rankings, the Scarlet Knights are one of just seven programs in the country to feature all ten starters in the national rankings ahead of the season.

As a true freshman, Shawver finished the season with four wins, earning a postseason spot in the 125 weight class. He recorded his first varsity win as a Scarlet Knight against No. 11 Ohio State (January 24, 2021). The former Elyria High School wrestler went 2-3 at the Big Ten Championship, defeating No. 13 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) in the first round.

[lawrence-related id=29621]