Ok, we are now up to 184 lbs. This is a weight that has a clear top, and a clear bottom.

Conference Championship Predictions

Big Ten – Aaron Brooks (Penn State)

ACC – Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech)

Big 12 – Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)

PAC-12 – Bernie Traux (Cal Poly)

EIWA – Louie Deprez (Binghamton)

MAC – Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois)

SoCon – Caleb Hopkins (Campbell)

All-American Predictions

1. Aaron Brooks (Penn State)

2. Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)

3. Trent Hidlay (NC State)

4. Myles Amine (Michigan)

5. Bernie Traux (Cal Poly)

6. Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech)

7. Taylor Venz (Nebraska)

8. Dakota Geer ((Oklahoma St)

Round of 12

• John Poznanski (Rutgers)
• Louie Deprez (Binghamton)
• Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois)
• Kaleb Romero (Ohio State)

Aaron Brooks

Aaron Brooks has been the clear number 1 at this weight for the last two seasons and I do not know why this year would be any different. I think every year we try to find a new number 1 or try to pretend that last year’s results mean nothing, and some publications try to say, “this guy is better than Brooks because…” Stop it. Brooks is a career 29-1 wrestler which includes the COVID short years of 2020 and 2021. His only loss came in his redshirt freshman season to Taylor Venz, which he has recently, multiple times, avenged that loss. I think Keckeisen will take a step up from last season and make it to the NCAA Finals to take on Brooks. I think this match is going to be awfully close at the end, but Brooks will pull this one out late.

Round of 12

Matchups

• Hunter Bolen vs John Poznanski
• Taylor Venz vs Louie Deprez
• Dakota Geer vs Britt Wilson
• Bernie Traux vs Kaleb Romero

First match we could see is Bolen vs Poznanski. I see Poznanski losing early due to a bad see and Bolen most likely will fall in the Quarterfinals. I will go with Bolen in this one because I think a little more experience will benefit Bolen here. Next up could be Venz vs Deprez and I do not see this as much as a challenge for Venz. Venz will probably drop from a tight Quarterfinal loss and Deprez could be a second-round exit.

Next up could be Geer vs Wilson in a closer match than some might expect. Wilson will probably be the one dropping from the Quarterfinals and Geer could be the early round exit. I see Geer winning this one in an awfully close match that could come down to riding time. Finally, we could see Traux vs Romero. Last season’s surprise Traux will drop from the Quarterfinals in a tough match and Romero could drop from the second round. Give me Traux in this one, I do not think last year was a fluke.

All-Americans

So, for consolation matches we would see Bolen vs Venz and Geer vs Traux to wrestle for the Consi-Semi’s. I will take Bolen over Venz in a really close match, and I will take Traux over Geer in the second matchup. Now we could see Hidlay vs Bolen and Traux vs Amine in the Consi-Semi’s. Hidlay and Bolen will be an ACC Final rematch and I see this one going to Hidlay. On the other matchup I see Amine bouncing back and taking out a dangerous Traux. For the medal matches now we see for seventh Venz vs Geer and I see Venz bouncing back Saturday morning and taking this one. For fifth we will see Bolen vs Traux, and I like Traux in this one, but it will be a close one. Finally for third we would see Hidlay vs Amine, and I like Hidlay to take this one over Amine. I think Amine is a better Freestyle wrestler than Folkstyle and I think Hidlay is best in Folkstyle.

Wrap-Up

To get back to my first sentence of this article. This is about the only weight that you can say for sure that these are the top six wrestlers, (Brooks, Keckeisen, Hidlay, Amine, Bolen, and Venz) and say they will place but sort out the order when we get there. Traux could be included in that list, and I think he should be, but I just want to see him come out and prove that last year was not a fluke to prove he is a contender in this weight. To whom is number 1. I get when people look at Myles Amine and argue that he is an Olympic Bronze medalist and that makes him a step better than the field because the rest were not. But to me, when talking about a Folkstyle season, I take trends from Folkstyle into account and not Freestyle. Brooks would have won the NCAA title in 2020 if the tournament were not canceled and we know he won last year. Amine has not been able to get it done yet so I will not pick anyone over Brooks until they prove they can beat them and so far, no one really has except Hidlay, but I think Brooks took his foot off the gas pedal a bit at the end of that NCAA final.

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.

Ok, we have a new week, and we are resuming the previews for this year’s NCAA season. We did 125-157 last week and now we job into the upper weights starting with 165 lbs.

Conference Champion Predictions

Big Ten – Alex Marinelli (Iowa)

ACC – Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)

Big 12 – Keegan O’Toole (Missouri)

PAC-12 – Shane Griffith (Stanford)

EIWA – Zach Hartman (Bucknell)

MAC – Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois)

SoCon – William Formato (App State)

All-American Predictions

1. Keegan O’Toole (Missouri)

2. Evan Wick (Cal Poly)

3. Shane Griffith (Stanford)

4. Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley)

5. Alex Marinelli (Iowa)

6. Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma St)

7. Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)

8. Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue)

Round of 12

• Cameron Amine (Michigan)
• Zach Hartman (Bucknell)
• Anthony Valencia (Arizona St)
• Thomas Bullard (NC State)

Keegan O’Toole

Keegan O’Toole, I am really high on this guy coming into this year. Put the Junior World Championship aside, this young Missouri wrestler, I think is good enough to win the title this year and the weight is conducive of knocking out big names early. O’Toole had his freshman season last year and comes in with that same Freshman status due to COVID and he went 19-1, with that loss coming to NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel. I think he runs into Cal Poly transfer, Evan Wick in the finals and beats him late. O’Toole is a cradle machine which we have seen, can be very dominant especially in Folkstyle.

Round of 12

So, this is going to be a very interesting blood round, because there are really good wrestlers in this bracket that should place if the weight was not so loaded.

Matchups

• Gerrit Nijenhuis vs Cameron Amine
• Demetrius Romero vs Zach Hartman
• Jake Wentzel vs Anthony Valencia
• Travis Wittlake vs Thomas Bullard

The first blood round matchup pits Big Ten opponents together, between Nijenhuis vs Amine. Nijenhuis would drop from a Quarterfinal loss and Amine would be an early 2^nd Round loser. Nijenhuis gets the edge in this one because I think he is a step above Amine at this point. Next up would-be Romero vs Hartman. Romero was an All-American last season at 174 lbs. and looks to be dropping back down to 165. I see Romero losing early on in this tournament, probably the 2^nd round and Hartman would drop from the Quarterfinals. I like Romero to get back on track and get into the medal matches.

Now we are to Wentzel vs Valencia, in an epic blood round matchup that pits retuning All-Americans together that come into the season eyeing the national championship. Wentzel drops down in the 2^nd round and Valencia is going to drop from a Quarterfinal loss. In a match like this, it is all about momentum and I think with Wentzel having a couple consolation matches under his belt will play to his advantage over Valencia who would be coming off of a disappointing loss. Finally, we run into Wittlake vs Bullard. This will be a sneaky good match because I think, based off of last year, these two are equally as good. Wittlake will drop from the Quarterfinals and Bullard will drop from a 2^nd Round loss. I give the edge to Wittlake here, but this could go either way.

All-Americans

If you are like me, the Semi-Finals are always distracting to the Consolation wrestling going on at the same time. This year in Detroit, I will make sure I will be watching the 165 lb. consolation matches because they are good. After the blood round we will see Nijenhuis vs Romero and Wentzel vs Wittlake. I have Romero defeating Nijenhuis in a close one and Wittlake edging out Wentzel late. So that sets up Consi-Semi matchups between Romero vs Marinelli and Wittlake vs Griffith. The thing about Marinelli for me is that when he gets to NCAA’s, he seems to be burnt out or something because he loses matches, he should not. This year he losses to Wick in the Semi’s, not a bad loss but I think it will be hard to bounce back Saturday morning and Romero pulls off the upset. Griffith vs Wittlake is interesting. Griffith runs into my predicted national champ and loses in a close one. I think he bounces back on Saturday to wrestle for 3^rd.

Ok medal matches are set. For 7^th place we see a great matchup between Wentzel vs Nijenhuis. I give the edge to Wentzel in this one. For 5^th we will see Marinelli vs Wittlake which would be a rematch from a dual meet earlier in the season. I think Marinelli bounces back from 2 straight losses and takes 5^th. For 3^rd this is a great matchup between Romero vs Griffith. I am going with Griffith in this one just because I think he has a touch more talent over Romero.

Wrap-Up

This weight is absolutely loaded, and it is not because of the Big Ten. The PAC-12, with Wick, Griffith, and Valencia, will be a fun conference tournament to watch. Then you add in Marinelli, Wentzel, Hartman, O’Toole, Wittlake, Romero, and Nijenhuis and you have a great bracket. There will be some guys at this weight that any other year would be all-americans, but this is not that every other year. 174 lb. preview will be up very soon so look out for that one, and thanks for reading this one today.

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.