FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State wrestling starts 2026 by heading to the Southern Scuffle at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the Soldier Salute at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Both events will be held on January 3-4.
 
Tournament Coverage
The Southern Scuffle will be streamed on FloWrestling, while the Soldier Salute will be streamed on B1G Plus. Both tournaments have live results through FloWrestling. Links for coverage will be available on GoBison.com.
 
History at the Scuffle
NDSU makes a return trip to the Southern Scuffle, which has become a constant on the schedule in recent years. Last season, Max Petersen led six Bison to placing finishes, including four returners. Petersen took second overall, while returners Boeden Greenley, Aidan Brenot and Devin Wasley also placed. In 2023, the Bison recorded three Scuffle Champions, led by Jared Franek, who won back-to-back titles after winning in 2022. The Bison have four overall champions at the Southern Scuffle.
 
History at the Salute
NDSU makes a return trip to the Soldier Salute after appearing for the first time last season with three attendees. Max Magayna led three Bison freshman last season in Iowa, going 5-2 overall at the event. Michael Olson and Kody Tanimoto also picked up two wins each in Coralville.
 
Ranked Bison
Five Bison are ranked headed back to Tennessee. Ezekiel Witt makes a big jump up the leaderboard after a top-15 upset in Nashville. Witt climbs to #20 in the Flo rankings and #26 in Intermat. Aidan Brenot (184) leads the way and at #17 in InterMat and #19 in Flo. Gavin Drexler (157) sits at #21 in Flo and #25 in InterMat. Max Petersen (149) has moved up a little and sits at #22 in Flo and #24 in InterMat. Tristan Daugherty (133) is #29 in InterMat and #31 in Flo.
 
Witt Continues to Impress vs. Top Competition
Ezekiel Witt has recorded multiple Top-15 victories in recent events, beginning with an upset of #14 Trever Anderson of Northern Iowa in a dual in November. After a narrow defeat against All American and #8 Jore Volk at Minnesota, Witt took down #12 Nico Provo of Stanford 7-2 in Nashville in December.
 
Witt then narrowly missed another upset, falling 6-5 to Penn State's #2 Luke Lilledahl later the same day in Nashville. With his wins, Witt has moved from the fringes to comfortably into the Top 25 headed into the Southern Scuffle.
 
Looking Ahead
North Dakota State will jump back into the dual stretch, beginning next weekend when the Bison host No. 4 Iowa State at the Scheels Center inside the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. The Bison welcome the Cyclones to Fargo on Sunday, January 11, with the dual slated for a 1 p.m. start.