Looks like we made it! Four months of the regular season, one weekend of conference championships, and here we are, in the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City getting ready to continue the most excellent tournament of the world's oldest and greatest sport. 

Match Notes: First Round | Second Round | Quarterfinals | Semis + Bloodround | Finals

We're at the 2024 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships, and we'll have an account of all the action here for you in real time!

Have some time to kill before the wrestling starts? Might I recommend spending an hour watching the latest FloSports Original: Spencer & Austin? I'm admittedly biased but in my humble opinion it rules. 

Where Are Brackets?

I'm hoping you came here for the live blog but if you just want the brackets I understand as well. We all crave brackets. Here is the link to the D1 NCAA Championship event page on Trackwrestling. Brackets are very easy to find from there. Sweet sweet brackets. 

What About the Schedule?

Sure, right here. 

Saturday, March 23

Session 5 - 11:00 am (Placing Matches)

Session 6 - 7:00 pm (Championship Finals)

Thank you for reading (or at least scrolling by) the same opening remarks that I've been using for every live blog so as to accommodate the rapid turnaround for each session. 

Coming up soon is the most slept on round of the NCAAs, the Medal Round! WHat will be the composition of the podium (save for the top two steps)? We will find out soon!

Usually something cool happens in this round too. Last round of the season, potentially of their careers, and they let it fly!

We start with a round of consolation semifinals, followed by placement matches (except for the finals, which are tonight at 7PM eastern. 

Consolation Semifinals

125 Pounds

Two Lehigh Mountain Hawks are on the mat right now, as 1 seed Crookham at 133 and 3 seed Stanich at 125 fight for higher placements. 

Wisconsin's wiley veteran uses a hellacious top game to major the true freshman Stanich

Lock Haven's Anthony Noto, the 12 seed and #23 ranked has Caleb Smith of Nebraska by way of App State. Hopefully I didn't jinx Noto by using his picture for this live blog, though I would be equally pumped to see Smith end his career with a high placement. This is Smith's first All-American honor in his career. Noto gets the takedown in sudden victory and the jinx is averted!

133 Pounds

Speaking of firsts, Nasir Bailey is wrestling Dylan Ragusin. Bailey is the first ever All-American for Little Rock, astonishing for a program in it's fifth year of existence. Bailey uses his gnarly tilt series to defeat Ragusin. The Trojan true freshman will wrestle for third!

Crookham scores the only takedown of his bout with Evan Frost of Iowa State and will wrestle for third. 

141 Pounds

Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina will medical forfeit and drop to sixth place. Bock Hardy of Nebraska moves on to the third place bout. 

Real Woods of Iowa and Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State are in a brawl. Fittingly for the two rival schools they represent. And Woods will take it 4-0. 

149 Pounds

Penn State's true freshman Tyler Kasak has jumped on a 6-1 lead over Nebraska's number one seed Ridge Lovett. Kasak lost in the first round but is attempting to be an ultimate road warrior and wrestleback to third. And Kasak cruises to victory and gets a crack at Ty Watters for third. 

ASU's four-time All-American Kyle Parco, who started his career at the sadly shuttered Fresno State program, leads West Virginia one-time All-American true freshman Ty Watters 3-2. But Watters flips the script with and pinfall late in the third to advance!

157 Pounds

Stanford Daniel Cardenas wastes no time getting a first period pin over Ohio's Peyten Kellar, Ohio's first All-American since 2016 (I think, will double check shortly).

In one of the wildest bouts of the tournament, Bryce Andonian of VA Tech and Meyer Shapiro of Cornell trade big moves until Shaprio gets a defensive fall in the second period. Great stuff from two electric wrestlers. 

165 Pounds

The best weight class in my opinion, is 165, as evidence by talents such as Michael Caliendo of Iowa and Izzak Olejnik of OK State wrestling in the consi semis. Caleindo is a sophomore, Olejnik is in his final year of eligibility, having made the All-American round last season wrestling for Northern Illinois. And Caliendo guts out the win to advance, much to the delight of the Hawkeye fans who trundled into the T-Moble Center this morning. 

Mizzou's Keegan O'Toole looks to bounce back from his semifinal loss to arch rival David Carr in his match with Stanford's freshman Hunter Garvin. Coach Ayres not missing a beat at Stanford as he took over the program over the summer for Rob Koll, who left for his alma mater North Carolina. And O'Toole cruises to a 17-1 teceh fall. 

174 Pounds

Mekhi Lewis looking to cap off an extraordinary career in Blacksburg with a third place finish. The first NCAA champ in Hokie history has a 3-1 lead on Columbia's first All-American since Steve Santos in 2013, Lennox Wolak. Coincidentally, Wolak is out of eligibility to compete at an Ivy League school but will use his final year of NCAA eligibility at Virginia Tech, where he will transfer to over the summer. So 174 will be in good hands following Mekhi's departure. Lewis wins, getting in a few last blast doubles and power bombs. His career has gone redshirt, first, redshirt, round of 12, runnerup, fourth, and now either third or fourth. Outstanding. 

Another NCAA champ from the state of New Jersey, Shane Griffith, who represents Michigan after competing for Stanford, leads South Dakota State's Cade DeVos 4-2. DeVos is part of a group of four AAs that sets a program record for the Jackrabbits. Griffith wins 6-2. 

184 Pounds

Minnesota's Isaiah Salazar has SDSU's Bennet Berge, who part of that amazing team of record-setting Jackrabbits. Berge wins a gutsy one 3-2. 

Penn State's Bernie Truax has Oregon State's Trey Munoz. Truax still has a chance to finish fourth four years in a row. He is also Bernie Truax IV and has a big IV tattoo on his arm. I am not making that up. I'm also sure Truax would prefer to finish third, but I am duty-bound to mention these other facts. It is part of the blogger's oath that I took. And this one I did jinx as Munoz gets rear standing position on Truax and than mat returns him to his back before securing the pinfall. Munoz is pumped up!

197 Pounds

Cornell's Jacon Cardenas has Missouri's and Kansas City's Rocky Elam in a rematch from a championship side bout that Elam won 4-0. Cardenas was not happy at the conclusion of that bout. Cardenas leads 6-3 in his potential revenge match. Elam takes top int he third to try to win with nearfall. Elam won't get any additional points and Cardenas has his revenge with a 7-3 win. 

Stephen Buchanan of Oklahoma by way of Wyoming has SDSU's Tanner Sloan (the fourth Jackrabbit AA, Tanner Jordan, will wrestle for 7th at 125). It's 2-1 in the third, Sloan trails and just escaped with 59 seconds of RT in Buchanan's favor, so this is about as close a match as you can get at this point. And Buchanan moots the debate about the riding time point with a late match takedown to win 6-2!

285 Pounds

Wyatt Hendrickson, the great American heavyweight from Air Force, gets the first takedon on Ohio State's freshman Nick Feldman. Hendrickson widening the lead 9-3 now. Wyatt has eligibility remaining but the two-time All-American has a contract to serve his country that doesn't involve NCAA wrestling so he is done competing collegiately after this season. Wyatt cruises to a 14-5 win. 

Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State has Zach Elam of Missoui (also from Kansas City, not coincidentally like his brother Rocky). Zach is closing out his storied career with the Tigers as a two-time All-American. Elam with a tactical 0-0 lead with riding time locked up in the third. 30 seconds remain in the match. Coach Dom Bradley celebrates as ELam gets the rideout to win. The riding time point is all he needed! Fittinly, Zach will outplace his younger brother Rocky for the first time in four years. 

Medal Matches

The NCAA, in their infinite wisdom, are doing things a little differently this year. Instead of having each weight class wrestle their 3rd, 5th and 7th place bouts at once, creating a fun 3-ring circus effect, they will instead wrestle all the 7th place bouts, then all the 5th, then all the 3rd. This new system, to me, sucks. But no one asked my opinion so away we go with the new system!

7th Place Bouts

125: Wyoming's Jore Volk, a 2022 freestyle 57kg U20 champ, has a 3-0 lead over SDSU's Tanner Jordan, or TanJo, as myself and I don't think anyone else calls him. Volk's defense holding strong. He wins 4-0. 

133: Rutger's Big Ten champ Dylan Shawver races out to a 6-1 lead over NC State's Kai Orine, who is wrestling in his home state of Missouri. Shawver extends his lead to 9-3. Shawver holds on to win and give the Scarlet Knights a seventh placer. Shawver's teammate Slavikouski will try to match his placement later at heavyweight. 

141: NC State's Ryan Jack gets the first takedown over Vance VomBaur of Minnesota. Jack wins a tight 4-3 bout to place 7th!

149: Rider's Quinn Kinner, who had to pull of a couple of upsets to get here, is in a slugfest with Iowa State's Casey Swiderski. Swideriski pulling ahead and putting it away, he leads 13-7 after two periods. Swiderski takes it by major, 20-8. 

157: Comeback wrestler of the year Peyton Robb having a much better time this year than last year, when he was in the hospital at this point of the tournament. The Husker is back on the podium and has a 7-1 lead on Jared Franek of Iowa by way of North Dakota State. Robb wins and finishes his career as a three-time All-American, 4th, 6th and now 7th in his last three seasons. Franek also finishes his career but as a two-time All-American, 4th and 8th in the last two seasons. 

165: Peyton Hall, who, along with Ty Watters, are the first pair of All-Americans in the Tim Flynn Era at West Virginia, has Nebraska's freshman Antrell Taylor. Hall defeats Taylor to finish 7th, one step higher than his previous finish. He has one year of eligibility remaining. 

174: Ben Pasiuk, Army's first NCAA All-American since 2008, has Illinois's Edmond Ruth, who is now, like his brother Ed, and NCAA All-American. Ruth battles back and wins by major. Pasiuk finishes his career as a one-time All-American. 

184: VA Tech's freshman TJ Stewart is going for broke against Navy's David Key, the first Midshipman All-American since 2016. Stewart cruises to a 20-4 tech-fall for a 7th place finish. Key finishes his career as a one-time All-American and will proudly serve his country in the Navy. 

197: Little Rock's second All-American in program history (beaten to the honor of being first by mere minutes by his teammate Nasir Bailey) has Lehigh's Michael Beard. Little jumps out to a 6-2 lead in the second period. Little will take it 10-3 and Little Rock has a 7th placer and a 3/4th placer TBD in just a bit!

285: Rutgers' Yaraslau Slavikouski leads Campbell's second All-American in program history, Taye Ghadiali, 3-1 early in the first. Things have tightened up by the 3rd, with Slavikouski's lead now at 4-3. Ghadiali was in on a single leg late in the third but couldn't finish before time ran out. The Harvard graduate with one year of eligibility remaining places seventh! Rutgers finishes with two seventh-placers. 

5th Place Bouts

125: Lehigh's Luke Stanich gets a shot at revenge against Caleb Smith of Nebraska, who defeated Stanich in the second round on the Championship side. And with a clutch takedown in short time of the second period, Luke Stanich will have his revenge with a 4-1! 

133: Michigan's Dylan Ragusiin races out to a 9-2 lead, still in the first, over Evan Frost of Iowa State. Ragusin cruises to a 17-6 major. 

141: Iowa State's Anthony Echemendia gets a forfeit over UNC's Lachlan McNeil. 

149: Kyle Parco of ASU and Ridge Lovett of Nebraska duke is out. Parco is a four-time All-American with one year of eligibility left (last of the covid years). Lovett, a runnerup in 2022, also has one more year remaining. Lovett trying to hold on to a 1 point lead in the third but Parco picks up a clutch takedown as time runs out to give the Sun Devil the 5th place honor!

157: VT's Bryce Andonian in an entertaining 7-5 bout with Ohio's Peyton Kellar (there are no other kind of Andonian matches) with Kellar in the lead after one period. Kellar on top i the 2nd, throws in a leg, rolls Andonian over and there's the fall! Kellar places 5th, Andonian finishes his stellar career as a three-time All-American, finishes 3rd, 7th and 6th the last three seasons. 

165: Stanford's freshman phenom Hunter Garvin has OK State's senior Izzak Olejnik. Olejnik scores the only takedown and will finish his career with a 5th place finish, three steps higher than he finished last season. 

174: Cade DeVos of South Dakota State has a 3-0 lead on Columbia Lennox Wolak. DeVos will take it 5-0. DeVos has one more year of eligibility to try and improve on his 5th place finish. 

184: Bernie Truax of Penn State by way of Cal Polly has Minnesota's Isaiah Salazar. Truax will finish his career as a four-time All-American. Truax goes up early and starts pouring it on. It's 11-0 in the third. And Truax will major Salazar to cap off a brilliant career with a 12-0 win and a 5th place finish. 

197: A pair of Jackrabbits on the mat right now, SDSU's Tanner Sloan has familiar foe Rocky Elam of Mizzou. Sloan is 4-2 in his career against the Tiger. Sloan will finish his great career as a two-time All-American. Elam is already a four-time All-American with one more year of eligibility remaining. Sloan with a pair of takedowns and he wins 7-0 to finish a legendary career in Brookings. 

285: Cohlton Schultz of ASU has Nick Feldman of Ohio State in a battle of Greco and freestyle age level world medalists. Feldman leads 11-4 late in the third. Feldman will take it and finish fifth as a freshman. Schultz is a four-time All-American (4th, 2nd, 7th, 6th) with one more year of eligibility. 

3rd Place Bouts

125: Wisconsin senior Eric Barnett has Lock Haven's Anthony Noto. Noto is a two-time All-American with one more year of eligibility. Barnett is a three-time All-American, four-time qualifier (8th, 7th, R12, 3/4th) who is in his last collegiate wrestling match. Noto now leads 6-3 in the third. He's also got exactly 60 seconds of riding time but Barnett needs at least a takedown to win in the third so that won't matter. Barnett on the attack but he can't solve Noto's defense and the Bald Eagle will take it 7-3! Tremendous career from Barnett. 

133: In a greatly anticipated bout between freshman, Little Rock's Nasir Bailey squares up against Lehigh's Ryan Crookham. Scoreless after 3 minutes. Crookham escapes and secures a takedown in the second to go up 4-0. Bailey takes neutral in the third. Crookham hit for stalling once and Bailey gets a late takedown but Crookham will take it 4-3 and the Mountain Hawk freshman finishes in third. 

141: Nebraska's Barock Hardy has Iowa's Real Woods. This one starts with fireworks as they trade takedowns in the first two minutes. They go back and forth, Hardy with a third period takedown to lead 7-5 with 30 seconds to go, RT not a factor. And Hardy holds on for victory! Woods finishes an amazing career as a five-time qualifier and three-time AA (6th, 2nd, 4th the last three seasons). Hardy is a two-time All-American with two-years of eligibility remaining. 

149: Penn State's Tyler Kasak scores the first takedown on Ty Watters of West Virginia in a battle of true freshmen. Watters trailing by a point, 3-2, in the third, riding time not a factor. And Kasak is the ultimate road warrior! Unphased by a loss to Jaden Abas i the first round he peels off 7 in a row to place third! Great careers are surely ahead for both of these wrestlers. 

157: Cornell's true freshman Meyer Shapiro with an early takedown on Stanford's true sophomore Daniel Cardenas as Shapiro looks for revenge after losing to Cardenas in the quarterfinals. Cardenas also beat Shapiro at this season's CKLV. 

165: Two-time national Keegan O'Toole tying to get the next best thing after losing to Carr in the semifinals. He's got a 6-1 lead in the first over Iowa's sophomore Mike Caliendo. Caliendo battles back to make it interesting but O'Toole will win 12-8. 

174: Two New Jersey native legends finish our their collegiate careers as Michigan's Shane Griffith and VA Tech's Mekhi Lewis wrestle in a battle of former NCAA champs. A scoreless first period gives way to a 1-0 second period in favor of Griffith. Lewis starts the third in neutral but it's Griffith that gets the takedown late in the third to ice it, 4-0. Two legends wrap up two legendary college careers. All the respect to both. 

184: Oregon State's lone All-American Trey Munoz has the first takedown on one of four South Dakota State AAs in Bennett Berge. Now 6-1 Munoz still in the first. Berge not conceding anything though, it's now 7-5 as Berge gets a takedown in the 2nd. He starts the third on bottom. It's 8-6 late, and Munoz holds on to a two point lead to win 9-7. A stall point for Berge and a riding time point for Munoz were tacked on at the end. And that was the final bout of the round!

197: Oklahoma's Stephen Buchanan has Cornell's Jacob Cardenas for third. Buchanan has the only escape so far in the bout and leads 5-3 in the third. Another takedown late in the bout for the Sooner will ice it. Buchanan wins 9-4. Cardenas is a two-time All-American (8th & 4th) with one year of eligibility, though he will have to use it somewhere else due to Ivy League rules. Buchanan also has a year of eligibility remaining. He's gone 8th, 3rd and now 3rd in his last three varsity seasons. He also qualified for the canceled 2020 NCAAs. 

285: Mizzou's Zach Elam will tussle with Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson. Wyatt cracks open the match with a feet to back takedown that wrans him seven points and a 8-1 lead in the second. Hendrickson keeps his foot on the gas to win by major 14-2. Both amazing athletes finish their careers as two-time All-Americans. 

We've reached the end of all but 10 matches of the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships! We have a healthy break until the finals. Plenty of time to take a nap, refuel, chill or whatever. Apologies for the typos, we'll see you back in the T-Mobile Center for the finals on prime time ESPN!

FINAL PLACEMENTS

Except for the finalists

125 Pounds

3rd Place - Anthony Noto of Lock Haven

4th Place - Eric Barnett of Wisconsin

5th Place - Luke Stanich of Lehigh

6th Place - Caleb Smith of Nebraska

7th Place - Jore Volk of Wyoming

8th Place - Tanner Jordan of South Dakota State

133 Pounds

3rd Place - Ryan Crookham of Lehigh

4th Place - Nasir Bailey of Little Rock

5th Place - Dylan Ragusin of Michigan

6th Place - Evan Frost of Iowa State

7th Place - Dylan Shawver of Rutgers

8th Place - Kai Orine of NC State

141 Pounds

3rd Place - Brock Hardy of Nebraska

4th Place - Real Woods of Iowa

5th Place - Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State

6th Place - Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina

7th Place - Ryan Jack of NC State

8th Place - Vance Vombaur of Minnesota

149 Pounds

3rd Place - Tyler Kasak of Penn State

4th Place - Ty Watters of West Virginia

5th Place - Kyle Parco of Arizona State

6th Place - Ridge Lovett of Nebraska

7th Place - Casey Swiderski of Iowa State

8th Place - Quinn Kinner of Rider

157 Pounds

3rd Place - Meyer Shapiro of Cornell

4th Place - Daniel Cardenas of Stanford

5th Place - Peyten Kellar of Ohio

6th Place - Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech

7th Place - Peyton Robb of Nebraska

8th Place - Jared Franek of Iowa

165 Pounds

3rd Place - Keegan O`Toole of Missouri

4th Place - Mike Caliendo of Iowa

5th Place - Izzak Olejnik of Oklahoma State

6th Place - Hunter Garvin of Stanford

7th Place - Peyton Hall of West Virginia

8th Place - Antrell Taylor of Nebraska

174 Pounds

3rd Place - Shane Griffith of Michigan

4th Place - Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech

5th Place - Cade DeVos of South Dakota State

6th Place - Lennox Wolak of Columbia

7th Place - Edmond Ruth of Illinois

8th Place - Benjamin Pasiuk of Army West Point

184 Pounds

3rd Place - Trey Munoz of Oregon State

4th Place - Bennett Berge of South Dakota State

5th Place - Bernie Truax of Penn State

6th Place - Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota

7th Place - Thomas Stewart Jr of Virginia Tech

8th Place - David Key of Navy

197 Pounds

3rd Place - Stephen Buchanan of Oklahoma

4th Place - Jacob Cardenas of Cornell

5th Place - Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State

6th Place - Rocky Elam of Missouri

7th Place - Stephen Little of Little Rock

8th Place - Michael Beard of Lehigh

285 Pounds

3rd Place - Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force

4th Place - Zach Elam of Missouri

5th Place - Nick Feldman of Ohio State

6th Place - Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State

7th Place - Yaraslau Slavikouski of Rutgers

8th Place - Taye Ghadiali of Campbell

MEDAL ROUND RESULTS

Upsets are underlined. Numbers are rankings, not seeds. 

3rd Place Matches

125: #23 Anthony Noto, Lock Haven over #6 Eric Barnett, Wisconsin Dec 7-3

133: #1 Ryan Crookham, Lehigh over #7 Nasir Bailey, Little Rock Dec 4-3

141: #8 Brock Hardy, Nebraska over #3 Real Woods, Iowa Dec 7-6

149: #10 Tyler Kasak, Penn State over #6 Ty Watters, West Virginia Dec 3-2

157: #3 Meyer Shapiro, Cornell over #7 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford Dec 10-4

165: #1 Keegan O'Toole, Missouri over #6 Mike Caliendo, Iowa Dec 12-8

174: #3 Shane Griffith, Michigan over #2 Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech Dec 4-0

184: #4 Trey Munoz, Oregon State over #8 Bennett Berge, South Dakota State Dec 9-7

197: #8 Stephen Buchanan, Oklahoma over #5 Jacob Cardenas, Cornell Dec 9-4

285: #3 Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force over #5 Zach Elam, Missouri MD 14-2

5th Place Matches

125: #3 Luke Stanich, Lehigh over #13 Caleb Smith, Nebraska Dec 5-1

133: #5 Dylan Ragusin, Michigan over #9 Evan Frost, Iowa State MD 17-6

141: #5 Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State over #10 Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina via medical forfeit

149: #2 Kyle Parco, Arizona State over #1 Ridge Lovett, Nebraska Dec 3-1

157: #18 Peyten Kellar, Ohio over #11 Bryce Andonian, Virginia Tech Fall 3:23

165: #7 Izzak Olejnik, Oklahoma State over #22 Hunter Garvin, Stanford Dec 3-0

174: #4 Cade DeVos, South Dakota State over #8 Lennox Wolak, Columbia Dec 5-0

184: #5 Bernie Truax, Penn State over #3 Isaiah Salazar, Minnesota MD 12-0

197: #3 Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State over #7 Rocky Elam, Missouri Dec 7-0

285: #7 Nick Feldman, Ohio State over #4 Cohlton Schultz, Arizona State Dec 11-4

7th Place Matches

125: #7 Jore Volk, Wyoming over #22 Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State Dec 4-0

133: #4 Dylan Shawver, Rutgers over #6 Kai Orine, NC State Dec 10-5

141: #4 Ryan Jack, NC State over #22 Vance Vombaur, Minnesota Dec 4-3

149: #7 Casey Swiderski, Iowa State over #30 Quinn Kinner, Rider MD 19-8

157: #12 Peyton Robb, Nebraska over #6 Jared Franek, Iowa MD 11-2

165: #8 Peyton Hall, West Virginia over #10 Antrell Taylor, Nebraska Dec 2-1

174: #5 Edmond Ruth, Illinois over #12 Benjamin Pasiuk, Army West Point MD 16-6

184: #11 Thomas Stewart, Virginia Tech over #28 David Key, Navy TF-1.5 6:50 20-4

197: #9 Stephen Little, Little Rock over #4 Michael Beard, Lehigh Dec 10-3

285: #14 Yaraslau Slavikouski, Rutgers over #9 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell Dec 4-3