Recapping No. 14 Rutgers wrestling's busy holiday schedule
Despite not hitting the mat since Dec. 10, 2023, the Rutgers wrestling team has had a busy couple of weeks leading up to its dual against UPenn this Saturday. The Scarlet Knights (5-1, 0-0) had select wrestlers compete at the Sheridan Tournament and Ken Kraft Midlands Championships before the new year.
Here is a recap of No. 14 Rutgers’ recent competitions before it finishes non-conference play this weekend.
2023 Sheridan Tournament
The Knights sent six wrestlers to compete at the Sheridan Tournament. Sophomore 133-pounder Brandan Chletsos secured a third-place finish and No. 13 graduate student 141-pounder Mitch Moore earned an individual title for his respective weight class.
In the championship bout, Moore picked up a ranked win over No. 16 Malyke Hines with a 12-4 major decision. Moore landed seven takedowns and outscored his opponents 31-10 on the way to his 141-pound title.
Competing at the Sheridan Tournament helped Moore remain sharp and keep his weight down during his time off.
“It was important that we keep my weight down so we wanted to get one tournament in throughout that break,” Moore said. “I missed a couple of matches earlier this season so we figured it would be good to get a couple of matches in too.”
2023 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Rutgers also had six wrestlers compete at the Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
No. 33 junior 157-pounder Andrew Clark earned two wins but lost a close 10-9 decision to Colton Washleski in the quarterfinal round for the 157-pound weight class.
No. 9 junior 133-pounder Dylan Shawver earned a runner-up finish at the tournament to receive his first Midlands silver medal. Shawver worked wins over No. 23 Julian Chlebove and No. 10 Zeth Romney but fell to Dylan Ragusin with a 4-1 decision in the championship bout.
Shawver has worked off his early season losses to find consistency on the mat and defeat ranked opponents.
“Going into the tournament on a positive note really, and wrestling how I wrestle, one match at a time and just staying aggressive,” Shawver said on what led to his success in the tournament.
High individual rankings
The Knights currently have four wrestlers nationally ranked in the top 10.
No. 8 junior 197-pounder John Poznanski and No. 7 graduate student 285-pounder Yaraslau Slavikouski remain undefeated.
No. 2 junior 125-pounder Dean Peterson owns a 5-0 record this season and has earned 20 dual points.
“When you have a high national ranking, it means you’re doing a lot right,” said head coach Scott Goodale. “They’re winning a lot of bouts and they’re winning important bouts, guys that are nationally ranked they're beating guys"
Peterson is focused on the future and continuing his success for the remainder of the season.
“I think it’s pretty cool, especially being ranked so high in the country, gets a lot of eyes on you. It's funs for the fans to see all that ” Peterson said. “But at the end of the day, they are just rankings and what really matters is March.”
Rutgers will wrestle in back-to-back dual meets this weekend starting with a 7 p.m. road match against the Quakers (0-1, 0-0) on Saturday.
Then, the Knights will return to Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus to face off against Rider at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The dual will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
“Back-to-back weigh-ins are great, we need to do more of it I think,” Goodale said. “Anxious to see how we respond to the Saturday-Sunday back-to-back weigh-in.”
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