Hello from 7,200 feet above sea level, as I'm clacking away on this keyboard in beautiful Laramie, Wyoming, creating the Week 7 Roundup, where we make note of all the wothy happenings from week 7 of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 college wrestling season!

Week 6 Rankings | Week 7 Box Scores

Roundups: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6

The University of Wyoming paid host to both Penn State and your humble blogger this weekend, as the Cowboys took on the Nittany Lions in high altitude Laramie. More on that dual, and everything else that happened as the wrestling season gets closer to wrapping up its first semester, shortly. First things first, however. 

The Dual of the Century of the Week

Sooners Shush The Scarlet Knights, 19-14

Oklahoma completed a Jersey sweep this weekend, defeating Rutgers and Rider in their home gyms. The former dual was the more impressive, and, from the Sooners' perspective, likely the more satisfactory competition of the weekend. 

There were but 21 duals this week. A skimpy tally, diminished no doubt due to mid-December being prime real estate on the calendar for first semester final exams. But that didn't stop Oklahoma and Rutgers from bringing the heat.

14 nationally ranked wrestlers, plus six others, duked it out in Piscataway. Ultimatley, the Sooners would prevail, thanks to their upperweights. Oklahoma peeled off four wins in a row to secure the win after trailing 14-6 after six bouts. 

Majors by Dylan Shawver and Anthony White at 133 and 157 could not sustain the Knights. Oklahoma's red hot Carter Schubert at 174 beat #4 Lenny Pinto at 174 to start the comeback for the Crimson and Cream. That bout was followed by a Brian Soldano beating his former teammate, Shane Cartegena-Walsh, in dramatic fashion, 9-6. 

Back in it 💪 @soldano_brian

📺 | Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/uHUXzSELKd

— Oklahoma Wrestling (@OU_Wrestling) December 14, 2025

Soldano, a New Jersey native like Cartegena-Walsh, was a two-time National Qualifier for the Scarlet Knights before losing the starting 184lb gig to Shane last season. Brian also hit this pretty cool move in his crucial bout against his former team.

DJ Parker and Juan Mora sealed the deal for the Sooners with back-to-back wins over ranked opponents.

The dual was in the balance for heavyweight, and if there's one thing the DotCotW selection committee appreciates, it's a dual meet that comes down to the last bout. 

Congrats to the Sooners on their highly productive East Coast swing!

What's So Civil About Uncivil War Anyway?

What I don't want here is... failure to communicate. 

Journeymen wrestling is all over this season of NCAA D1 wrestling (and other divisions and associations as well). That's because Journeymen Wrestling, with Frank Popolizio at the helm, works hard to bring as many good teams together every year. And some of the fruits of those labors include the Uncivil War, where Iowa, Utah Valley, and Chattanooga wrestled a tr-meet. 

The Hawkeyes, who were without their 133 and 285lb starters, dropped just four bouts over the course of their two duals. 

Perhaps most surprisingly for Hawkeye fans was seeing Gabe Arnold at 197. The Georgia native picked up two wins as a very undersized light-heavyweight, as NCAA rules do not allow him to weigh much more than 174 if he wants to compete back down at his optimal weight anytime soon this season.

Utah Valley also wrestled tough, picking up a 33-3 win over Chattanooga before their loss to Iowa. 

Elsewhere in Dual Meet Land

Ohio State overwhelmed the Wolfpack 26-10

• In a dual that featured five top-ten matchups, the Buckeyes won seven of ten to the delight of a sold-out Covelli Center in Columbus. 
• NC State highlights included Willi Denny pulling off the slightest of upsets at 165 over #12 Paddy Gallagher in sudden victory, and Isaac Trumble continuing his exemplary return to competition with a 5-1 win over #2 Nick Feldman. 
• Buckeye Ethan Stiles also pulled off a slight upset at 149 with a 4-3 win over #4 Koy Buesgens (rankers love those slight upsets, just fyi), and Carson Kharchla notched a slightly more impressive upset over #3 Matty Singleton at 174. 
• Buckeye talisman Jesse Mendez set the tone of the dual with a tech-fall over #7 Ryan Jack as the senior two-time national champ has his sights set on a third title and a potential Hodge Trophy. 

Another match, another dominant TF for Jesse Mendez 💥

This time the @wrestlingbucks' No. 1 at 141 lbs defeated No. 6 Ryan Jack of NC State 21-6 👊 pic.twitter.com/p6PPaEHHnT

— Big Ten Wrestling (@B1GWrestling) December 13, 2025

Elsewhere in a Thursday tri-meet, Bellarmine, Kent State, and Edinboro produced a 'Ranker's Delight' for the team dual standings. BU beat EU, who beat KSU, who beat BU. Good luck, rankers!

Speaking of tris, Kent State was in another tri-meet on Saturday, where they bested both Gardner-Webb and Buffalo in New York State's second biggest city. Buffalo beat Gardner-Webb in criteria in the other dual of that tri (yes, college wrestling has criteria. Look it up!)

Additionally, Oklahoma State, Northern Iowa, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina all picked up solid wins over Power 5 conference programs. I know the Power 5 appellation comes from football and doesn't always translate to wrestling, and I'm not trying to perpetuate the NCAA's devotion to the almighty pigskin, but what I am trying to say is those teams I just listed all had quality wins against quality teams this weekend. 

Finally, Penn State endured over a mile high of altitude when they defeated Wyoming in front of the largest wrestling crowd in Laramie history. 

Record shattered. https://t.co/GevjkZkhvt pic.twitter.com/2WVJ1oZDa0

— Alex Taylor (@alex_m_taylor22) December 14, 2025

I was lucky enough to be on site and couldn't help but feel the passion for the world's oldest and raddest sport from the entire Cowboy community. Wyoming is a wrestling state! 

The Nittany Lions, however, did what the Nittany Lions do, and won 40-7. The Cowboys did pick up impressive wins at 197 and 285, giving the fans plenty to cheer about as Joey Novak and Christian Carroll showed out in front of 4,686 attendees. 

Side note: Many commentators are taking umbrage with the idea that Marcus Blaze improvised a novel way of finding a pinning hold. Perhaps this is a ho-hum cradle to some, but to me it is quite extraordinary. Inventive even!

Marcus Blaze out here inventing new pinning combos 😳 pic.twitter.com/heD7TxTBGg

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) December 14, 2025

It's Tourney Time

There were no tournaments in week 7 of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 college wrestling season, hence, there are no tournaments in the Tourney Time section of the Week 7 Roundup of the 2025-26 NCAA D1 college wrestling season. Would you like a refill on that Pepsi? 

Oh Yeah, About The National College Rankings

There's been a lot of discussion about college rankings on the internet these days. Mostly because it's late in the first semester and Penn State has a lot of really good true freshmen who are All-American and even title-contenders who haven't yet faced a lot of highly ranked wrestlers. Hence, their lower rankings which generated a tournament ranking that has Ohio State as having more projected team points than Penn State, despite the Nittany Lions being prohibitive favorites to win their fifth national title in a row. 

And well, that's just how things go. 

Every set of college rankings pretty much operates on the same set of principles, chiefly that they are a snapshot of the season at that particular week, with rankings based heavily on the current season's wins and losses for the wrestlers being ranked. It may not look 'correct' at first glance, but it will all sort itself out by March. In the meantime, we get a lot of discussion about wrestling, and at the end of the day it's much ado about not a whole lot.

Sorry, I don't have any hot takes about the subject. If you need more rankings talk, we discussed it on the most recent FRL here:

And, of course, there's always more rancor to be had on the internet. I'm sure you know where to find it if that's how you want to spend your time! 

Hey, Here's a Cool Video

Bader and Joe Go to RusNats

It's the holiday season, and a lot of people are getting together with their families or seeing old friends. So why not enjoy a blast from the past when Mark Bader and Joe Williamson went deep into Siberia to document the 2013 Russian National Championships?

This is key FloWrestling lore, so all you kids who are unfamiliar with it should consider it a mandatory assignment. Have your reports ready to hand in by the end of the week!

Why Try? Ask AI!

Our soon-to-be robot overlords are coming for all our jobs soon enough. In the meantime, why not harness their mechanical powers for our own personal benefit? Seems like a good idea to me, let's do it!

I asked ChatGPT the following questions: How should NCAA men's wrestling rankers handle Penn State's PJ Duke's win over Lehigh's Logan Rozynski via injury default on December 7, 2025? 

And here's what the content-thieving, dark-money-backed potential SkyNet doppleganger spat back in my face.

In handling rankings following PJ Duke's injury default win over Logan Rozynski, NCAA rankings should consider several factors:

1. Match Importance: Since this was a dual meet and injury defaults can affect team standings, the outcome may have implications for team rankings, especially in a competitive environment.
2. Nature of the Win: An injury default win, while still a victory, does not showcase the competitor's performance in the same way a pin or decision win does. Rankings typically reward dominant or decisive wins more heavily.
3. Performance Metrics: Duke's overall performance in prior matches and the season should be considered. If he has consistently performed well, the win against Rozynski can serve to bolster his ranking despite the nature of the victory.
4. Head-to-Head Matchups: If other wrestlers close to Duke in rankings have head-to-head records against Rozynski or previous matches that may influence their ranking, these should be examined.
5. Context of the Injury: If Rozynski was a top competitor or if the injury is significant regarding future participation, this context might influence how heavily the win is weighted in the rankings.

Ultimately, while the win enhances Duke’s status, its impact on his ranking will depend on how it contrasts with other wrestlers' performances and any existing injuries or trends in the division.

Well, that was totally worthless. Or maybe it was very worthy. Indeed, worth destroying every business model based on original written content. Who's to say? Either way, thanks a lot, you dumb soulless robot idiot! 

Journeymen National Collegiate Duals are this weekend. Then it's Christmas! That's excellent news! Okay, have a safe and lovely week, wise and learned wrestling fans!