No. 16 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Slate Saturday at No. 1 Penn State

Saturday, January 10

University Park, Pa.

4 PM

Rutgers University

Penn State

Photo by: Sam Janicki

No. 16 Wrestling Opens Big Ten Slate Saturday at No. 1 Penn State

Jan 07 | Wrestling

Match Notes: Penn State Big Ten Network on FOX Sports App F&M Open Live Results (Flo Arena)F&M Open Livestream (FloWrestling)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 16 Rutgers wrestling (6-2, 0-0) opens Big Ten Conference action on Saturday at No. 1 Penn State (6-0, 0-0). The 4 p.m. dual at Rec Hall is set for a national broadcast on Big Ten Network, with Shane Sparks and Jim Gibbons on the call.

The Scarlet Knights begin a stretch of eight Big Ten duals in their final 11 dates of the regular season, including matchups against four ranked opponents – No. 1 Penn State, No. 10 Illinois, No. 11 Minnesota and No. 12 Michigan.

RU enters the weekend off its first Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Team Title in school history. Behind individual crowns from No. 15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) and No. 25 Hunter Catka (HWT), along with runner-up results from No. 18 Remy Cotton (197) and No. 32 Andrew Barbosa (165), Rutgers finished with 93 team points, ahead of No. 14 Pittsburgh (92.5) and Bucknell (83).

Several Scarlet Knights will also compete at the David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open on Friday in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m., with all matches streamed on FloWrestling.

Projected Lineup

No. 16 Rutgers (6-2)
125: 29/33 Ayden Smith (9-2)
133: 24/24 Dylan Shawver (11-4)
141: Tahir Parkins (5-6) -OR- Mason Gibson (8-3)
149: Devon Magro (7-4)
157: 32/NR Anthony White (7-4) -OR- Easton Doster (4-0)
165: NR/26 Ryan Ford (11-2) -OR- 21/NR Andrew Barbosa (8-3)
174: 9/10 Lenny Pinto (7-3) -OR- Jordan Chapman (5-8)
184: 15/18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (14-2)
197: 18/16 Remy Cotton (6-2)
HWT: 21/21 Hunter Catka (11-4)
Rankings Intermat/FloWrestling

No. 1 Penn State (6-0, 0-0)
125: 2/2 Luke Lilledahl (8-0)
133: 5/6 Marcus Blaze (10-0)
141: Nate Desmond -OR- 9/11 Aaron Nagao (5-2)
149: 1/1 Shayne Van Ness (10-0)
157: 4/3 PJ Duke (9-0)
165: 1/1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (10-0)
174: 1/1 Levi Haines (9-0)
184: 4/4 Rocco Welsh (9-0)
197: 1/1 Josh Barr (7-0)
HWT: 15/14 Cole Mirasola (8-2)
Rankings Intermat/FloWrestling

David H. Lehman '68 F&M Open Entries
Attached
157: Max Hermes
174: Nate Blanchette
197: PJ Casale
HWT: Hadyn Packer
197: Eric Freeman
HWT: Brandon Toranzo

Unattached
133: Billy Townson
157: Dagen Condomitti
157: Donovan DiStefano
157: Sebastiano Nini

Last Time Out

• Despite not sending a full roster, Rutgers claimed its first Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Team Title in school history on Dec. 30 in Evanston, Illinois. All six attached entries placed for the Scarlet Knights, including individual titles for Cartagena-Walsh and Catka, runner-up finishes for Barbosa and Cotton, a fourth-place finish for Ryan Ford (165) and an eighth-place result for PJ Casale (197).
• In unattached action at Midlands, Conner Harer (157) finished fourth, while Dylan Shawver (133) and Jordan Chapman finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
• RU split its last two dual matches, losing to No. 20 Oklahoma, 19-14, on Dec. 13 before defeating Drexel, 28-12 on Dec. 14 in Piscataway.

In the Rankings

• Rutgers moved up to No. 16 in this week's NWCA Coaches Poll. The program is ranked within the top 20 by The Open Mat (13), Intermat (14) and WIN Magazine (18).
• Eleven Scarlet Knights are ranked in at least one national poll, with all 10 weights ranked by both Intermat and FloWrestling.
• Rutgers is one of just five schools, along with No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Iowa State and No. 5 Oklahoma State, with all 10 weights ranked.
• Joseph Olivieri (141) and Lenny Pinto (174) are the program's highest-ranked wrestlers heading into the new year, pegged No. 5 and No. 9 in their respective weight classes by Intermat.

Wrestler	Intermat	FloWrestling	The Open Mat	AWN	WIN
Ayden Smith (125)	29	33	---	---	---
Dylan Shawver (133)	24	24	---	---	---
Joseph Olivieri (141)	5	7	6	5	6
Andrew Clark (149)	31	---	---	---	---
Anthony White (157)	32	---	---	---	---
Andrew Barbosa (165)	21	---	20	19	---
Ryan Ford (165)	---	26	---	---	---
Lenny Pinto (174)	9	10	10	12	10
Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184)	15	18	16	17	15
Remy Cotton (197)	18	16	16	---	19
Hunter Catka (HWT)	21	21	20	---	18

Up Next

• Rutgers hosts No. 12 Michigan on Friday, Jan. 16 and Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 18 at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Scarlet Knights' matchup with the Wolverines is set for a 7 p.m. start, while Sunday dual with the Boilermakers begins at 1 p.m. Both matches will stream on Big Ten Plus.