Upsets dominated the weekend in NCAA men’s wrestling, highlighted by two big wins in the top 10. No. 5 Oklahoma State took care of No. 3 Iowa State, while No. 9 Minnesota beat No. 4 Iowa on the road.
Here’s a recap of what you may have missed from the weekend.
Oklahoma State blows out Iowa State in important Big 12 dual
No. 5 Oklahoma State proved itself to be the standard in the Big 12, beating No. 3 Iowa State, 24-9, in Stillwater. Sunday’s dual was Iowa State’s first loss since falling to Ohio State in the National Duals in December.
CY-HAWK: How Iowa State stopped the Hawkeyes for the first time in 20 years
The Cowboys won each of the first seven weights in front of a crowd of over 10,000. No. 7 Troy Spratley began the dual at 125 pounds with a 3-1 decision win over No. 13 Stevo Poulin. At 133 pounds, star freshman No. 12 Jax Forrest picked up a tech fall against Osmany Diversent early in the second period.
In an important 141-pound match, No. 2 Sergio Vega kept the start going for the Cowboys with a 4-2 decision over No. 3 All-American Anthony Echemendia. No. 12 Casey Swiderski upset No. 6 Jacob Frost in the 149-pound tilt by decision, 4-2. Swiderski’s win was especially significant given that he wrestled the first three years of his career for Iowa State. Following his win, the Oklahoma State speakers belted the lyrics to “Should’ve Been A Cowboy,” a fitting wink to Swiderski’s literal and symbolic win over his former team. This was also Swiderski first official win of the year over an All-American and could prove to be a critical victory come seeding time for the Big 12 tournament.
Crowd erupts as Casey Swiderski beats his former team. Cue “Should have been a Cowboy”
— Oklahoma Wrestling (@o__wrestle)
Freshman No. 6 Landon Robideau earned his second win over an All-American with a 4-1 win over No. 8 Vinny Zerban at 157 pounds. No. 2 LaDarion Lockett stayed undefeated at 165 pounds, earning a major win over No. 16 Connor Euton, 12-3. Lockett will have a tough stretch ahead of him to close out the season, however, as he'll be expected to take on All-American No. 5 Matt Bianchi on Friday, No. 12 Ryan Burton on Feb. 15 and No. 3 Mikey Caliendo on Feb. 22. A clean sweep would keep LaDarion Lockett at the No. 2 spot and put him position to be on the other side of the bracket from No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State at NCAAs, assuming he maintains his trajectory through the conference tournament.
Oklahoma State's depth and dominance continued in the upperweights against the Cyclones beyond Robideau and Lockett. No. 7 Alex Facundo won Oklahoma State’s seventh straight match when he beat No. 13 MJ Gaitain, 4-2, in the 174-pound contest. Facundo has not lost a match yet in 2026.
BEDLAM: How the Cowboys topped the Sooners at the beginning of their dominant Big 12 dual streak this year
Iowa State won the last three matches, all by decision. No. 12 Isaac Dean gave the Cyclones their first win of the afternoon with a 5-1 win over backup Trevor Dopps. No. 2 All-American veteran Rocky Elam needed to go to tiebreakers to beat No. 7 freshman Cody Merrill, where he won 4-1, and No. 1 Yonger Bastida finished the day with a 5-2 heavyweight win over No. 6 Konner Doucet.
With the win and a 34-3 demolition of No. 13 Northern Iowa on Friday, the Cowboys finished Big 12 competition a perfect 7-0. Oklahoma State will face Little Rock, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 4 Iowa before the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa in early March. Iowa State has three Big 12 matches left this season against No. 18 West Virginia, No. 13 Northern Iowa and No. 19 Missouri.
Minnesota upsets Iowa in Big Ten action
No. 9 Minnesota earned its first win over No. 4 Iowa since 2014 with a 21-16 triumph in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The dual ended an 11-win streak for the Hawkeyes over the Gophers.
No. 10 Jore Volk started the evening with an 8-0, major decision win over Iowa backup Joey Cruz at 125 pounds. In the 133-pound contest, the Hawks put themselves ahead when No. 9 Drake Ayala picked up a tech fall win over All-American Chris Cannon, 21-6, suggesting a continued return to form for the National Finalist Hawkeye. Ayala would later for the team loss to Minnesota as a senior leader, but his individual performance suggests that he's in a position to once again compete for a national title.
Notes from Friday's win:
— Minnesota Wrestling (@GopherWrestling)
Vance VomBaur (10-1 MD #11 Nasir Bailey) & Charlie Millard (13-3 MD #12 Jordan Williams) had the highest-ranked bonus-point wins of their careers.
And Drew Roberts' 4-2 decision over #16 Ryder Block marked the highest ranked win of his career.
The Gophers took control of the dual after 133 pounds with three straight wins. All-American and Big Ten finalist No. 9 Vance VomBaur picked up a big major decision win over No. 11 All-American Nasir Bailey, 10-1. No. 24 Drew Roberts upset No. 16 Ryder Block at 149 pounds, 4-2, and No. 21 Charlie Millard added a major win over No. 12 Jordan Williams, 13-3.
Iowa cut back on Minnesota’s lead with major decision wins from dependable veteran All-Americans No. 3 Michael Caliendo and No. 3 Patrick Kennedy at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively, but Minnesota had an answer. No. 4 Max McEnelly beat Iowa utility athlete Gabe Arnold with a sudden victory takedown to win 4-1, despite a gritty effort from Arnold, who was filling in for No. 2 Angelo Ferrari, and No. 3 Gavin Nelson clinched the dual with a 4-3 win over Harvey Ludington at 197 pounds.
MEET THE ALL-AMERICANS: These are the 80 guys who ended up on the podium in 2025
No. 8 Ben Kueter gave Iowa three late points when he beat No. 10 Koy Hopke in the heavyweight bout, but the dual was already settled. The Gophers have two road duals against No. 16 Rutgers and Maryland ahead after their big road win.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Ohio State stayed undefeated. The Nittany Lions earned a 26-12 win at home against No. 6 Nebraska in a chippy bout, while the Buckeyes beat No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 10 Michigan in Columbus by 10 points each. No. 12 Illinois beat No. 24 Indiana, and No. 16 Rutgers earned a pair of unranked wins over Maryland and Rider.
Other results from the weekend
In a crucial ACC match, No. 7 Virginia Tech beat No. 8 NC State, 21-12. The Hokies won four of the first five matches before an 11-10 win by No. 16 Sonny Sasso over No. 25 Patrick Brophy clinched the dual for the Hokies.
RECAPPING ACC ACTION: How the Hokies topped the Wolfpack in Reynolds
Also in the ACC, No. 14 Pittsburgh beat No. 11 North Carolina, 22-9, in Chapel Hill. A late upset at 133 pounds for No. 30 Evan Tallmadge over No. 19 Ethan Oakley clinched the dual for the Panthers. Next week the Panthers will take on the No. 8 Wolfpack.
No. 21 Oklahoma earned a 23-18 upset win over No. 13 Northern Iowa at home on Saturday. A key win by No. 8 Carter Schubert at 174 pounds over Northern Iowa’s No. 12 Jared Simma and major-decision wins in the last two matches from No. 11 DJ Parker at 197 pounds and No. 21 Juan Mora at heavyweight elevated the Sooners to victory.
Juan seals the deal 🫡
— Oklahoma Wrestling (@OU_Wrestling)
No. 22 Cornell suffered two losses on Saturday, losing to Columbia, 22-21 and to Arizona State, 18-17. The loss to Columbia came on criteria with a win by pin and medical forfeit proving the difference for the Lions. The rise of Columbia brings even more depth to the Ivy League that has historically been dominated by the Big Red.
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