We have previewed 4 weights so far and today will be our fifth weight preview and its an interesting weight.

Conference Championship Predictions

Big Ten – Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
ACC – Austin O’Connor (North Carolina)
Big 12 – David Carr (Iowa State)
PAC-12 – Jacori Teemer (Arizona St)
EIWA – Quincy Monday (Princeton)
MAC – Justin Ruffin (SIU-Edwardsville)
SoCon – Cody Bond (App State)

All-American Predictions

1. Austin O’Connor (North Carolina)

2. David Carr (Iowa State)

3. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)

4. Jarrett Jacques (Missouri)

5. Quincy Monday (Princeton)

6. Jacori Teemer (Arizona St)

7. Josh Humphreys (Lehigh)

8. Andrew Cerniglia (Navy)

Round of 12

• Kaleb Young (Iowa)
• Peyton Robb (Nebraska)
• Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma St)
• Ed Scott (NC State)

Austin O’Connor

So, 157 lbs sees 2 returning National Champions and that is David Carr, who won the weight last season. The second is Austin O’Connor who won a national title at 149 lbs last season. It looks like O’Connor is on his way up to this weight which makes for one of the more intriguing finals in Detroit. O’Connor has been a pleasant surprise for the Tar Heels and burst on the scene in the 2019 NCAA Championships as a Redshirt Freshman, placing 3rd. I see this bracket kind of working out the same way it did last year where the 1 seed, who in this case could be O’Connor will have an easier path to the finals and the 2 and 3 seeds will be very difficult. I think we see the battle of NCAA Champions and I give the edge to O’Connor in this one. I think O’Connor, with a 3rd and a 1st at NCAA’s has proven himself as one of the nations best wrestlers and I think will be fresher in this finals compared to Carr.

Round of 12

Matchups:

Jarrett Jacques vs Kaleb Young
Josh Humphreys vs Peyton Robb
Andrew Cerniglia vs Wyatt Sheets
Quincy Monday vs Ed Scott

Let’s start off with Jacques vs Young in the blood round. This will be an important match for the team race, especially because I am not 100 percent sold on Penn State at 157 or who they go with, it could be a freshman. Anyways, Young will fall in the Second Round and Jacques drops from a Quarterfinal loss to Teemer. I think Jacques wins this one in Sudden Victory. Then to Humphreys vs Robb. I have Humphreys losing early on in the tournament and Robb losing in the Quarters to O’Connor. I actually give the edge to Humphreys in this one, because I think he will be hot on the backside and I think Robb will have a tough time bouncing back after the Quarterfinal loss.

Cerniglia vs Sheets is one of those interesting matchups because both of these wrestlers can make some noise on the topside. Sheets will lose early on in the tournament and will fight back, similarly to what he did last year, and I have Cerniglia as a surprise Quarterfinalist. I give Cerniglia the edge here, just because I think he takes that next step up from last year. Monday vs Scott might be the best blood round matchup at this weight. Monday makes his way to the Quarters but runs into Deakin and drops down, and Scott will lose early on and battle back. I think this is a very close matchup and I am not really sure if people know the potential of Ed Scott and how good he can be. I have to go with Monday in this one but I can easily see this going the other way.

All-Americans

So All-Americans are now set, now where does this all shake out? First, we have Jacques vs Humphreys and Cerniglia vs Monday for the chance to wrestle in the Consi-Semi’s. I give the edge to Jacques in the first matchup and give me Monday over Cerniglia. Now it is Monday vs Deakin and Teemer vs Jacques. Deakin will handle Monday fairly easily and I see Jacques upsetting Teemer in the Consi-Semi’s to wrestle for 3rd. For seventh we see Cerniglia vs Humphreys which could be a conference Semi-Final rematch and I think Humphreys gets it done. For 5th we see Monday vs Teemer and I give the edge to Monday. I think it will be tough for Teemer on Saturday morning to bounce back and I think Monday will be hot. For 3rd I have Jacques vs Deakin and I think Deakin will win this one by major decision.

Wrap-Up

Look, 157 is one of those weights that we have a good idea who could be in the finals. Barring upsets and injuries, I think it is safe to say that we will see a combination of Deakin, O’Connor, and Carr in the finals but the thing is 2 of those 3 will face each other in the Semi-Finals which is great for fans, but unfortunate for the wrestlers involved. The rest of 157 is still good but is separate from the top 3 and I think it is a clear divide at this point until someone steps up. Thanks for reading this article on 157 lbs, look out on Monday as I will resume these previews with 165 lbs.

Ok, 125, 133, and 141 are done, here we go with 149 lbs where the weight is a little more dynamic this season.

Conference Champion Predictions

Big Ten – Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)

Big 12 – Brock Mauller (Missouri)

ACC – Tariq Wilson (NC State)

PAC-12 – Kyle Parco (Arizona St)

EIWA – Yanni Diakomihalis (Cornell)

MAC – Brent Moore (Cclarion)

SoCon – Josh Heil (Campbell)

All-American Predictions

1. Yanni Diakomihalis (Cornell)

2. Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)

3. Brock Mauller (Missouri)

4. Tariq Wilson (NC State)

5. Kyle Parco (Arizona St)

6. Austin Gomez (Wisconsin)

7. Josh Heil (Campbell)

8. Yayha Thomas (Northwestern)

Round of 12

• Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech)
• Ridge Lovett (Nebraska)
• Max Murin (Iowa)
• John Millner (App State)

Yanni Diakomihalis

So after spending the last 2 years sitting on the sidelines with consecutive Olympic Redshirts. Yanni returns to claim his 3^rd National Title at his second weight. The move up I think makes him a little more comfortable and he will be doing a lot less of cutting and more maintaining during the season, I assume. Look, I do not know who does not realize this yet, but Yanni Diakomihalis is a top 3 P4P wrestler in college wrestling and I do not see anyone realistically beating him. Now with taking 2 years off there might be some early season rust, but that will be shaken off by December. His opponent in the finals, I believe, will be Sammy Sasso. If you wanted to replace Sasso with Wilson or Mauller. I would not argue with you but I think Sasso is a good number 2 at this weight with Diakomihalis in it.The finals matchup will be close and if Diakomihalis hits Mauller in the Semi-Finals, that could be a very difficult match. I will take Diakomihalis by a takedown in this matchup.

Round of 12

Matchups:

• Austin Gomez vs Bryce Andonian
• Josh Heil vs Ridge Lovett
• Yahya Thomas vs Max Murin
• Kyle Parco vs John Millner

Ok so these blood round matches can go either way but I think they will shake out in this way. In the first match we have Gomez vs Andonian. Gomez will be falling from a Quarterfinal loss to Brock Mauller and Andonian losses early on. Gomez, I believe, will eek this one out in tiebreakers. I think both wrestlers have the opportunity to be All-Americans and it is a toss up. We jump to Heil vs Lovett and this is another one that comes down to the final seconds. Heil will drop down from an early loss to a good opponent, possibly controversial, and Lovett drops from a Quarterfinals loss to Diakomihalis. This has the potential to be a high scoring affair with possibly 30 plus points combined when it is all said and done. I am taking Heil in this match and I pick it because I think he will be determined to All-American, especially off of what happened last year.

Thomas vs Murin is probably a Big Ten Quarterfinal rematch, and it goes down in the blood rounds in Detroit. Thomas had an incredible run last season to nab an All-American spot and I think he drops from a Quarterfinal loss to Sasso. Murin will fall early and I am going off of trends here but will battle back to get within one match of being an All-American. I give Thomas the edge in this one and I think Murin’s loss will weigh heavily in the team race. Next matchup is Parco vs Millner. Millner in my eyes is a first round exit that catches fire in the consolations and Parco suffers a Quarterfinal loss to Wilson. I like Parco to cool of Millner’s hot streak and compete for a medal.

All-Americans

Now that the blood rounds are out of the way, let’s discuss how the All-American’s will shake out. First matchup is Gomez vs Heil and I think Gomez takes this one. Next is Thomas vs Parco and I am going with the “upset” if you want to call it that and Parco moves on. Gomez will probably be taking on Tariq Wilson in the Consi-Semi’s off of a Sammy Sasso defeat. Wilson comes back the next morning takes care of business. Parco will have to face Mauller and I go with Mauller to move on. So medal matches are set, and for 7^th we see Heil vs Thomas and I am going with Heil in this one. Saturday moring is all about who has the better gas tanking especially if you had to wrestler 4 matches on Friday and I think Heil will have more in the tank. For 5^th we see Gomez vs Parco and I think Parco takes this one. Parco is an interesting wrestler here because he faced some great competition at NCAA’s last season and held his own. I think he does better than holding his own this year. For 3^rd we get a cool matchup between Wilson and Mauller. This will be about the best medal match of the day and I give a slight edge to Mauller, but I would not be surprised if it goes the other way.

Wrap-Up

Ok, so the top 4 in this weight, I think are easily identifiable with Diakomihalis, Sasso, Mauller, and Wilson. But, the rest of the weight is very competitive and anyone has the possibility to pull off upsets. My thinking for this weight is, as long as it is seeded correctly, there should not be a 24 seed in the Quarterfinals but who knows. Couple names to keep an eye on here for growth from last year and it is Beau Bartlett (Penn State), Jarod Verkleeren (Virginia), Luke Karam (West Virginia), and Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) can all be names that can have late season success with better growth from last year. Thanks for reading this preview and look out for the 149 lb preview coming out soon.

Alright we have wrapped up 125 and 133 the last 2 days. Let’s move now to 141 lbs.

Conference Championship Predictions:

Big Ten – Nick Lee (Penn State)

Big 12 – Ian Parker (Iowa State)

ACC – Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh)

PAC 12 – Real Woods (Stanford)

EIWA – Malyke Hines (Lehigh)

MAC – Dresden Simon (Central Michigan)

SoCon – Anthony Brito (App State)

All-American predictions:

1. Nick Lee (Penn State)

2. Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)

3. Ian Parker (Iowa State)

4. Jaydin Eierman (Iowa)

5. Real Woods (Stanford)

6. Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh)

7. Allan Hart (Missouri)

8. Chad Red (Nebraska)

Round of 12:

• Ryan Anderson (Binghamton)
• Dresden Simon (Central Michigan)
• Malyke Hines (Lehigh)
• Jarrett Trombley (NC State)

Nick Lee

The reigning national champion at 141 lbs I believe will repeat. As hard as that is with how loaded the Big Ten is, I believe when seeds come out his path will be a lot easier if you can say that. I have Lee as the Big Ten champion and I believe that it will be good enough for him to get a 1 seed come NCAA Championship time. This will leave Eierman and Rivera to battle it out on the bottom side and set up Lee with a little bit more of a manageable Semi-Final opponent much like we saw at the 2021 championships with Eierman on the top side and Lee vs Rivera in the Semi-Finals. Lee I believe will face Sebastian Rivera in the finals and this could be another overtime affair where I will take Lee in a takedown in Sudden Victory to go back to back.

Round of 12

Matchups:

• Chad Red vs Ryan Anderson
• Real Woods vs Jarrett Trombley
• Cole Matthews vs Malyke Hines
• Allan Hart vs Dominick Demas

I think we will be seeing some interesting blood round matchups that on the surface do not look that great, but I believe it will pull our attentions from the Semi-Finals with some of these potential matchups. So, lets start with Chad Red vs Ryan Anderson. This is a fun matchup if you know how good Ryan Anderson can be when given the opportunity. This is one of those guys who will be hurt by seeding and I think it will be, because of the conference strength of the EIWA at 141. Chad Red will drop from the Quarterfinals in a tough loss to Ian Parker in a 4 seed vs 5 seed Quarterfinal matchup. Give me Chad Red in this one. Next, I have Real Woods vs Jarrett Trombley in a really exciting blood round matchup. Woods will fall to Nick Lee in the Quarters which sets him up against, at this point, a hot Trombley who will have rattled off 3 straight wins. Woods I think will be good enough to win this one, but I will not be shocked if this goes the other way.

Now for Cole Matthews vs Malyke Hines. Hines will get a lower seed, again, because the EIWA does not have the strength on paper some other conferences do. I think Hines will lose early and will fight back, but will face Cole Matthews in this one who dropped in the Quarterfinals to Sebastian Rivera. Give me Matthews in a close one here. Alright, now we get to the 5 star matchup I the blood round and that is Allan Hart vs Dominick Demas. Hart I think will place third at Big 12’s which will hurt his seeding a bit and he will run into some tough competition early on. His opponent, Demas, will come out of Big 12’s placing second to Ian Parker and I think gets to the Quarterfinals but runs into Jaydin Eierman. I am going to go with Hart in this matchup, just off the fact I believe this is a potential Big 12 Semi-Final matchup and I would have given the edge to Demas at Big 12’s. I think with the rematch, Hart will be able to better attack Demas and beat him in the blood round.

All-Americans

With the blood round and Semi-Finals out of the way, the All-American field is set. In the Consi-Quarter matchups we get to see Chad Red vs Real Woods and Cole Matthews vs Allan Hart. As we see in every NCAA tournament, Real Woods is the real deal. I think Real Woods handles Chad Red in this one and moves on to face Jaydin Eierman in the Consi-Semi’s. In the other matchup I think Cole Matthews edges out Allan Hart in this one. I think after a tough win in the blood round it will be a hard turn-around to wrestle Cole Matthews in the same night, so give me Matthews in the Consi-Semi’s vs Ian Parker. I think both Eierman and Parker bounce back the next morning after tough Semi-Final matches and will go at it for third. For seventh we will see Hart vs Red and give me Hart in this one. I think he will bounce back the next morning and give Chad Red a run for his money. For fifth we see Matthews vs Woods. I really like Woods in this matchup, due to the fact Woods will be hot in this one and I think if he wrestled anyone but Jaydin Eierman, he would be going for third. That leaves us with an Iowa vs Iowa State matchup for third between Eierman and Parker. These 2 will already have met in an early December dual in Ames where Eierman will edge out Parker. I take Parker in this one for the fact that there will be a lot of let down with Eierman not competing for the national title and the mental side I think will play into this one.

Wrap-Up

One of the more exciting weight classes sees some big names falling to the consolations. This is going to be like 133 a couple years ago where there is an opportunity for a good chunk of the field to be All-Americans but I am pretty comfortable with who I picked here. The Big 12 is going to be really interesting and I think the conference tournament will be a huge factor in how Demas, Parker, and Hart perform in Detroit. One of those guys will not be All-Americans which is amazing because they all have the potential. This is another weight that is deep for the Big Ten and with Rivera staying up at 141, I think it makes it even tougher.

Another day and another preview. We wrapped up the 125 lb preview yesterday and today we hop into 133 lbs.

Conference Championship Predictions

Big Ten – Stevan Micic (Michigan)

Big 12 – Daton Fix (Oklahoma St)

ACC – Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech)

PAC 12 – Michael McGee (Arizona St)

EIWA – Michael Colaicco (Pennsylvania)

MAC – Derek Spann (Buffalo)

SoCon – Jake Rotundo (Citadel)

All-Americans

1. Daton Fix (Oklahoma St)
2. Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State)
3. Stevan Micic (Michigan)
4. Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
5. Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech)
6. Lucas Byrd (Illinois)
7. Michael Colaicco (Pennsylvania)
8. Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh)

Round of 12

• Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh)
• Matthew Schmitt (Missouri)
• Michael McGee (Arizona St)
• Sammy Alvarez (Rutgers)

Daton Fix

The 2-time NCAA runner-up I believe finally gets it done in the NCAA finals this March. Fix I think without a doubt is one of the most talented wrestlers at 133 lbs but for some reason the NCAA finals has not gone his way. With 2 overtime losses it begs the question if Fix is letting his opponents hang around in the match. This time around I think it will be different. I predict he will get a rematch with Roman Bravo-Young in the finals and jumps out of the gate with his attacks. With the talent of Bravo-Young that is what you need to do and I think this second time around Fix will be able to keep up the pace and take down Bravo-Young for his first NCAA title.

Round of 12

Matchups:

• Korbin Myers vs Matthew Schmitt
• Micky Phillippi vs Brandon Paetzell
• Lucas Byrd vs Sammy Alverez
• Michael Colaicco vs Michael McGee

This will be a fun blood round at 133 lbs and it starts off with Myers vs Schmitt. Myers is coming into this one off of a Quarterfinal loss to DeSanto. Schmitt comes into this one off of an early loss in the second round and battles back. Schmitt gets hurt on seeding in this one because off how loaded the Big Ten will be. Give me Myers in this one to advance. Now to Phillippi vs Paetzell. Very interesting matchup here and I think this will be very close. Phillippi comes into this one off of an early second round loss but battles back. Paetzell on the other hand comes off of a Quarterfinal loss to Fix and drops down to the blood round. Give me Phillippi in this one because I think he comes into this match hot after the early loss.

Now to an explosive matchup between Byrd and Alverez. Alverez comes into this one off of an early loss but comes back to get into the blood round. Byrd on the other hand comes off of a Quarterfinal loss to Micic. I’m going with Lucas Byrd in this one because coming off of last year I was really impressed with Byrd’s performance and I think this year he’s even better. The final blood round matchup is Colaicco vs McGee. This pits 2 conference champions together and I think this will be a good under the radar matchup. Colaicco I think gets hurt by seeding and losses early on and fights his way back. McGee comes into this one off of losing to Roman Bravo-Young in the Quarters. I’m going with Colaicco in this one just because I think he’s a dangerous matchup for everybody.

All-Americans

Ok, now that we got the blood rounds out of the way, let’s get to how the All-Americans shake out. You have Korbin Myers vs Micky Phillippi and Lucas Byrd vs Michael Colaicco. Myers vs Phillippi will be an ACC finals rematch and I think it’s going to be the same result as that match with Myers winning. Byrd vs Colaicco and I really like Byrd in this matchup. Now to the Consi-Semis where we see Myers vs DeSanto in the first matchup. DeSanto is a constant motor and reminds me a lot of how the Brands wrestled, he falls short to Fix in the Semi-Finals but not here. Then we see Byrd vs Micic. I think Micic responds from his Semi-Final loss to Bravo-Young and wrestles for third. For seventh we will see Phillippi vs Colaicco and give me Colaicco in that one. For fifth we will get a close matchup between Myers vs Byrd and I’ll take Myers in that one. For third it’s Micic vs DeSanto and I have Micic but this is a toss up match so I could see this going the other way.

Wrap-Up

So 133 might not have that same firepower that it had in 2018 and 2019 but it still packs a punch. I think we will see great wrestlers loss early and possibly get eliminated early like Chris Cannon from Northwestern. A lot of good wrestlers will not All-American at this weight and I think when you sit back and look at who is at 133 there could be 14 or 15 guys that could be All-Americans. Thank you for reading this article and look for the 141 lb preview coming soon.