There is still plenty of action to come, but the ‘Cats are already off to a hot start.
Opening the 2025-26 season, Northwestern wrestling traveled to East Lansing, Michigan to take part in the Michigan State
open, hosted by the Spartans. Northwestern is seeking a bounce-back year after finish 2-6 in the conference last season, and Saturday’s matchup against Michigan was an encouraging performance to kickoff the year.
Highlighting the day were underclassmen Eddie Enright and Alex Smith. Both were standout finishers, each placing within the top of their respective weight classes on Saturday, among three different Wildcats from the Open to finish among the top three in their weight class.
At the 174-lb. mark, Enright was nothing short of dominant. After getting a first-round bye, he won three straight matches — against Kent State’s Jake Jonker and Braxton Quaintance, and Purdue’s Aidan Costello — by double-digit points to earn first place in the freshman/sophomore 174-lb. division. Meanwhile at 197 lbs., Smith took a longer road, winning four straight (two by fall, two by decision) and capping things off with a 7-2 victory over Aidan Ysaguirre (Arizona State) to snag another first place finish in his first collegiate action.
Alongside the aforementioned Enright and Smith were fellow underclassmen Giosue Hickman (141 lbs.) and Gunnar Myers (157 lbs.), who also performed well with third-place finishes in the freshman/sophomore division. While each wrestler got off to a rocky start — Hickman losing his first match and Myers losing his second — each sequentially ran the table in the consolation bracket to earn third place and establish some momentum moving forward.
Among the remaining underclassmen, Matthew Kubas (184 lbs.) and Marcell Booth (197 lbs.) experienced moderate success, with Kubas securing a fifth-place finish while Booth split four matches to earn his first two victories as a Wildcat.
Junior Massey Odiotti and redshirt sophomore Sam Cartella used their experience to their advantage in the open division. At 133 lbs., Odiotti pulled off a string of victories to start his year off on a high note, but eventually fell to No. 28 Markel Baker (Northern Illinois) in the semifinals. He would redeem himself, however, earning a victory in the third-place match to finish on the podium. 28th-ranked Cartella’s day at the 149-lb. mark was similarly successful; an opening match win set the tone, and despite falling to 31st-ranked Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) in the quarterfinals, Cartella bounced back with four straight wins in the consolation bracket to also earn third.
No. 28 Dedrick Navarro (125 lbs.) did not have the day he had hoped after a first-round bye in the open division, losing in the semifinals and then again in the third-place match, but still earning a fourth-place ending. Among the remaining competitors, only Jacob Bostelman (165 lbs.) would earn a podium, finishing in fifth place in the open division in anti-climatic fashion after a medical forfeit.
A grand total of eight podium finishes marked a successful showing from the ‘Cats. Northwestern will appear next on Nov. 15 when it heads to Edwardsville, Illinois to take on SIUE at 5 p.m. CT.
