Six weights down and four more to go for my previews. Let us highlight 174lbs today as this is another exciting weight.
Conference Championship Predictions
Big Ten – Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
ACC – Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
Big 12 – Peyton Mocco (Missouri)
PAC-12 – Trey Munoz (Oregon St)
EIWA – Ben Pasiuk (Army)
MAC – Jacob Oliver (Edinboro)
SoCon – Austin Murphy (Campbell)
All-American Predictions
1. Carter Starocci (Penn State)
2. Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
3. Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
4. Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
5. Ben Pasiuk (Army)
6. Michael Labriola (Nebraska)
7. Andrew McNally (Wisconsin)
8. Peyton Mocco (Missouri)
Round of 12
- Ethan Smith (Ohio State)
- Matt Finesilver (Duke)
- Jackson Turley (Rutgers)
- Donnell Washington (Indiana)
Carter Starocci
Look, I know Starocci is not the popular pick at this weight, but this is not a popularity contest. When looking at this weight, I did not see anyone that I thought could 100%, flat out beat Starocci, multiple times in the season. Kemerer has a track record of not finishing at the end of the year. We do not know what Mekhi Lewis we get this year because of how banged up he was last year, and Hidlay, even though he is really good, and I think the weight suits him better, I am not taking the bait. Starocci proved to me last year that he can beat anyone in multiple different ways. If he needs a takedown to beat a guy, he can go get it. If he needs to defend and not get taken down, he can do that. If he needs to ride out an entire period to secure a 1-point win, he can do that.
Starocci, I would say, is not the most exciting wrestler in the field. And to win at this level, you do not need to be exciting. I think he runs into the 2 ACC hammers in back-to-back matches and takes care of both of them in tight matches that come down to the wire.
Round of 12
Matchups
- Andrew McNally vs Ethan Smith
- Michael Labriola vs Matt Finesilver
- Ben Pasiuk vs Jackson Turley
- Peyton Mocco vs Donnell Washington
The first matchup is between McNally vs Smith in a Big Ten showdown. Smith drops from the second round and McNally falls short in the Quarters. I give the edge to McNally in this one just based off of how many matches they will wrestle at this point, and I think McNally will be a lot fresher. Next up is Labriola vs Finesilver. Finesilver, I think, is a first round exit but will battle back, as all of the Finesilver’s seem to do at NCAA’s. Labriola falls just short in the Quarters setting up this matchup. Give me Labriola in this match as I think he wins this one fairly easily.
Now to Pasiuk vs Turley, which I think could be interesting. Pasiuk will drop from the second round and Turley will drop from a close Quarterfinal. I think the logical take here is Turley, but I like Pasiuk to pull off the semi-upset in the blood round. Now to Mocco vs Washington. Mocco, I believe makes it to the Quarters, but drops a close one. Washington will be a second-round exit and will fight back to this spot. This one is a coin flip, and to be honest with you, that is how I picked this one. The flip chose Mocco, but I can easily see Washington winning this match. I think this is about as even as a matchup as you can get.
All-Americans
There was no real method on picking 5 through 8 here. We will see McNally vs Labriola and Pasiuk vs Mocco. I will go with Labriola and Pasiuk to advance to the Consi-Semi’s and to save you sometime, Lewis and Kemerer are going to be wrestling for third. For seventh place we will see McNally vs Mocco, in I think, a fun matchup. I give the edge to McNally in this matchup. For fifth we get to see Labriola vs Pasiuk and give me another upset with Pasiuk winning this one. Now to third place as we will see a, would be, finals matchup as Lewis and Kemerer square off. This is one of those coin flip matches again, and I am going with Kemerer in a really competitive match.
Wrap-Up
Look, this is a really top-heavy weight with four guys at the top that have the opportunity to win a national title. A lot like 165 lbs., I think it is easy to point out who will be at the top of this weight, but unlike 165 lbs., they are not all in separate conference. I do not want to forget about wrestlers like Michael Labriola, because Labriola has the chance to step in and take over this weight as well. It is just tough to do that when the NCAA champion and the NCAA finalist are at the same weight as you. I think the popular pick in this weight would be Kemerer, and I go off of trends. Iowa seems to either let off the gas pedal or runs out of gas at NCAA’s. Do not ask me why I think that is, that is just the trend. Mekhi Lewis and Hayden Hidlay are attractive picks, and who knows, they might actually win the weight. But I am sticking with Starocci at 174.
Thanks for reading this 174 lb. preview, look out for 184 lbs. very soon.