NDSU Wrestling Heads to Florida for Knockout Christmas Classic

FARGO, N.D. – The Bison travel to Florida for the Knockout Christmas Classic on Saturday, December 21, to wrap up dual meets for 2024. NDSU will go up against West Virginia, Campbell and Wisconsin in a quadrangular with duals set to begin at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.
 
Coverage
The Knockout Christmas Classic will be streamed live by BEG Wrestling and TrackWrestling. The dual will also have live results through TrackWrestling. Links for coverage will be available on gobison.com.
 
The Series
-NDSU meets West Virginia for the fourth time in program history. NDSU trails 1-2 in the series, but won the last meeting in Jan. 2021, 39-9 in Fargo. WVU won 19-17 in the only neutral dual in Dec. 2018.
-NDSU also meets Campbell for a fourth time, with the Bison leading the series 2-1. Campbell won last December, 30-13, in Buies Creek. NDSU has won both neutral duals, back in 2011 and 2012.
-Like the previous two, the Bison meet Wisconsin for a fourth time as well, with the Badgers leading the series 3-0. In the last meeting, Wisconsin won 25-9 in Fargo. It will be the first-ever neutral meeting.
 
Drexler in the Rankings
North Dakota State’s Gavin Drexler has moved up a couple places in the rankings in recent weeks. After holding firm at No. 28 in the FloWrestling rankings and No. 32 in the InterMat rankings over the first few weeks, Drexler has moved up two spots to No. 26 in FloWrestling and three spots to No. 29 in the InterMat. Drexler made his debut in both rankings in early November.
 
Glover Claims Ranked Win In Dual Debut
Making his dual debut and his debut at 197 pounds, Tayshaun Glover upset #15/22 Christian Carroll of Iowa State in NDSU’s dual against the Cyclones. Glover secured a takedown to tie the match at 4-4 early in the second and added another at the edge of the mat with one second remaining in the period to go up 7-5. He would add an escape for an 8-5 win. He is the first Bison to top a ranked opponent in his dual debut since Adam Cherne picked up a major decision against #19 Giuseppe Hoose of Oklahoma on November 19, 2023. It’s the third-straight season an NDSU wrestler has topped a ranked opponent in their dual debut, with Juan Mora also doing it in the season opener at Nebraska in 2022-23.
 
Greenley, Daugherty Claim First Big 12 Wins
Boeden Greenley and Tristan Daugherty each picked up their first Big 12 dual match victories against Iowa State. Greenley, a redshirt freshman, recorded his first dual victory overall with a win by decision at 165 pounds. Senior transfer Daugherty picked up a win by decision in his first Big 12 match at 125 pounds.
 
Wrapping Last Week
NDSU claimed four match victories in a 27-12 loss at Iowa State to open up the Big 12 dual schedule on December 15. Tristan Daugherty started the dual off with a win, while #30 Gavin Drexler added his 40th career win in the 149-pound match. Out of the break, Boeden Greenley secured his first-ever dual win and Tayshaun Glover also secured a first dual victory in his dual debut, knocking off ranked Christian Carroll.
 
Up Next
The Bison are set to have a few wrestlers compete at the Soldier Salute in Coralville, Iowa on December 29-30 to wrap up the calendar year. The full Bison team will return for the Southern Scuffle to start the new year on January 4-5 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.