With the 2021-2022 NCAA Division 1 wrestling season approaching come November I think it’s a great time to look forward to what can happen come March.

Today we will start with 125 lbs and work our way all the way to heavyweight.

A little *disclaimer* before we start. This is for what I think will happen now with the guys who are on the current roster. So, because Nick Suriano is not on a roster yet, he will not be included in this preview. I am not going to predict where a guy will go or how good they will be if I do not know that they will actually wrestle this year due to them not being on a roster yet. Obviously Nick Suriano, if he wrestles will be an All-American but I’m previewing guys on current rosters.

So lets start off with conference champions predictions

• Big Ten – Spencer Lee (Iowa)
• Big 12 – Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley)
• ACC – Sam Latona (Viginia Tech)
• PAC-12 – Brandon Courtney (Arizona St)
• EIWA – Vito Arujua (Cornell)
• MAC – Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan)
• SoCon – Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga)

Now All-American predictions

1. Spencer Lee (Iowa)
2. Vito Arujua (Cornell)
3. Brandon Courtney (Arizona St.)
4. Devin Schroeder (Purdue)
5. Pat Glory (Princeton)
6. Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley St.)
7. Sam Latona (Va. Tech)
8. Killian Cardinale (WVU)

Round of 12

• Brody Teske (Northern Iowa)
• Drew Hildebrandt (C. Michigan)
• Jakob Camacho (NC State)
• Robert Howard (PSU)

Any surprises? Let me explain myself.

Spencer Lee

Lee is by far the best wrestler we will see going into the 2021-2022 season and he is most likely the top 57 KG wrestler on the planet. Only if it wasn’t for his lack of ACL’s. Yeah you read that right, lack of ACL’s. If you do not remember after Lee won his third NCAA title against Arizona State’s Brandon Courtney, in his post match interview he shocked the wrestling community by stating “I’m wrestling with no ACLs” -Lee. With a whole summer to relax and get healthy I expect Lee to return and dominate the weight once again cementing himself as a 4-time NCAA champion. He has tough competition, by most standards but this is Spencer Lee we are talking about. Baring any surprise cradles or Sebastian Rivera cutting 20lbs, I think Lee will be the clear favorite.

Round of 12

Oh the blood round, anyone who has been to a NCAA Wrestling Championship in person knows that this round can be more exciting than the Semi-Finals happening at the same time. Drama, desperation, aspiration, all tie in to excitement and 125 lbs might offer some of the best matches. So let me set it all up with the possible matchups:

• Brody Teske vs Devin Schroeder
• Jakob Camacho vs Taylor LaMont
• Robert Howard vs Sam Latona
• Drew Hildebrandt vs Killian Cardinale

Now seeding can blow this all up, we are speaking in hypotheticals of course and March always brings in the surprise 23 seed in the third place match but lets just imagine this happens because I do believe these are the top 12 guys. Robert Howard I think takes a step up from last year and puts himself in a top 12 seed and could make it to the Quarters but wont go past that in the Championship bracket. He falls to Sam Latona which could be the match of the weight. I give the edge to Latona. Teske vs Schroeder is a match that could be fire works. Teske will probably get hurt with seeding especially with the Ivy’s back in the fold. This puts him in a position that he will have tough matches early and lose early. Schroeder will fall to him in the Quarters but this is his year and he wont be denied. Hildebrandt vs Cardinale is interesting. Not the best two guys in the country but can All-American given the right circumstances and I think both might have good weekends. Cardinale I think edges him out. Finally Camacho vs LaMont. This is a tough weight especially in the ACC so again this is a seeding casualty for Camacho. LaMont drops down from the Quarters and just has more in the tank to put him over the top.

The All-Americans

Now for the rest of my predicted All-Americans there really wasn’t a method to picking them. I believe that there are three legit finalist contenders at the weight and they are Arujua, Glory, and of course laat years finalist Brandon Courtney. This is a tougher weight than some give it credit for and I think its because Lee is so dominant that its him and 2 through 8 will work itself out. I think Arujua is the guy to give Lee a tough match so I put him in the finals. Arujua will take down Glory in the conference championships which will be good enough to earn him a 2 seed. Glory will get 3 or 4, I think 3. So it will be a rematch of the EIWA finals in the semis. Arujua again will take him out, probably on a UTB escape. Glory will then fall to Schroeder in the Consi-Semis back Schroeder is determined to win, Glory will take 5^th, Shroeder 4^th. The guy Schroeder loses to in the 3^rd place match will be Brandon Courtney. Courtney will advance to the semis losing to Lee by at least a major decision. He drops to Taylor LaMont in the consi-semis and bounces back to place 3^rd and LaMont gets 6^th. That leaves Sam Latona vs Killian Cardinale for 7^th. Cardinale will lose to Devin Schroeder, again who is determined to win, he falls to the 7^th place match. His opponent in Sam Latona will drop his match to Taylor LaMont and I think this will be close. Latona faces Cardinale and I think beats him soundly for 7^th.

Wrap Up

If you have read this far thanks and remember to stop by in a day or two when I release my 133 lb preview. That one will be fun, that much I will tell you. Lets get the conversation going on in the comments section. What did I get right? What did I get wrong? Let me know I would love to hear your opinions.