Big Ten Championships: Dylan Shawver wins Big Ten title, No. 14 Rutgers wrestling secures 7 NCAA qualifiers
The Rutgers wrestling team competed in Sessions III and IV of the Big Ten Championships at the XFINITY Center in College Park, Maryland, on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights (12-5, 4-4) finished the tournament with a Big Ten title and had a total of seven wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships.
Session III
No. 11 seed junior 157-pounder Al DeSantis started the day for No. 14 Rutgers with a bout against No. 12 seed Michael North in the ninth-place match semifinals. DeSantis earned the 8-4 win and needed one more victory to book his ticket to the NCAA Championships.
No. 10 seed junior 149-pounder Michael Cetta did not have to wrestle his match against No. 13 seed Aiden Vandenbush, as Vandenbush forfeited. Cetta also needed one more victory to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The Knights then wrestled in the consolation semifinals.
After falling to No. 4 seed Patrick McKee, No. 9 seed junior 125-pounder Dean Peterson took on No. 2 seed Drake Ayala. The match was the first between the two, and Ayala came out on top in a 4-1 decision sending him to the third-place match and Peterson to the fifth-place match.
No. 7 seed graduate student 141-pounder Mitch Moore faced off against No. 5 seed Sergio Lemley. After falling to Lemley 10-7 in sudden victory earlier this season, Moore lost once to him again, but this time by an 11-6 decision.
No. 6 seed senior 174-pounder Jackson Turley’s bout against No. 9 seed Andrew Sparks was a back-and-forth one from start to finish. Turley got out to an early lead, but Sparks responded with points of his own. After many stoppages and call reviews, Turley secured a third-period two-point reversal to get the 10-9 win over Sparks. Turley was the first wrestler of the day for Rutgers to advance to the third-place match.
No. 8 seed sophomore 184-pounder Brian Soldano could not get things going against No. 5 seed Jaden Bullock, falling 12-4.
No. 4 seed graduate student 285-pounder Yaraslau Slavikouski capped off the consolation semifinals with his first-ever meeting against No. 7 seed Bradley Hill. Slavikouski got the 5-1 win to advance to the third-place match.
In the seventh-place match, No. 7 seed junior 197-pounder John Poznanski dominated No. 8 seed Evan Bates, landing a 15-0 technical fall and securing his third qualification to the NCAA Championships. Poznanski finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships.
It was Cetta’s turn to try to earn his spot to Kansas City, Missouri, but he could not against No. 9 seed Drew Roberts. Roberts defeated Cetta in a 5-3 decision.
After winning earlier in Session III, DeSantis had to defeat No. 10 seed Isaac Wilcox to advance to the national tournament. DeSantis struggled in a 5-1 decision loss, ending his season.
Session IV
The Knights then had wrestlers competing for fifth place, third place and first place.
Peterson took on No. 7 seed Michael DeAugustino in the fifth-place match. It was level at 6-6 after three periods, but Peterson landed a takedown in sudden victory to win 9-6 and finish the tournament in fifth place, a career-high placement.
Shawver went up against No. 1 seed Dylan Ragusin in the title match. Shawver faced Ragusin twice this season, losing 8-5 in January and 4-1 in December.
It was a wild bout from start to finish, but Shawver owned a 3-1 lead after the first period. Shawver exploded on offense in the final two periods and secured the 23-8 technical fall over Ragusin to win Rutgers’ third Big Ten title and the first one since 2019.
Shawver joins program legends Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault as a Big Ten title winner.
“Been manifesting it, been dreaming it, and I let it happen, I let it all fly out there,” Shawver said on the victory. “It’s not giving up, giving it my all and just pushing the pace, going out there and scoring.”
As for Shawver’s offense, he followed the same mindset as he always does.
“My mindset’s the same going into every match, one match at a time and scoring,” he said. “The more you score, the more points you get, the closer you get to winning.”
Head coach Scott Goodale is proud but is focusing on Shawver to continue his dominance at the NCAA Championships.
“This is a good step, it’s a Big Ten Champ, they’re hard to win,” he said. “So I’m pumped for tonight, we’ll enjoy it tonight but we’ll be back to work to start tomorrow.”
Following Shawver’s title, Moore took on No. 4 seed Brock Hardy in the fifth-place match. Moore got pinned in the first period to finish sixth at the Big Ten Championships.
Turley went up against No. 5 seed Rocco Welsh in the third-place match. Welsh defeated Turley 4-3 in February and won once again but this time 4-2. The loss meant that Turley finished fourth at the tournament, his highest finish in his collegiate career.
Soldano faced off against No. 4 seed Ryder Rogotzke in the match for fifth place. Soldano pinned Rogotzke at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus in their last matchup, but Rogotzke was the one who dominated this time around. Rogotzke earned the 15-3 major decision win and Soldano finished in sixth place, the same place he finished in 2023.
Slavikouski finished the night with a match against No. 3 seed Lucas Davison for third place. After losing to Davison two straight times in his career, Slavikouski fought hard but suffered a 6-3 loss to finish in fourth place.
Overall, the Knights finished in sixth place as a team with 87.5 points, a team-high since 2016.
Rutgers will look to build off its success when it competes at the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 21, 22 and 23.
“Top to bottom, it was a really, really good team effort,” Goodale said. “These guys scrapped really, really hard, so I’m proud of them for that.”
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