141 lber Andrew Alirez (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)Northern Colorado Bears
Anchored by four returning NCAA qualifiers from the 2021 season, including Andrew Alirez, who missed the tournament due to injury, the Northern Colorado Bears will look to continue to build off their strong recruiting in recent years and aim for podium finishes at the Big 12 and NCAA tournament.
TOP RETURNERS
133-Mosha Schwartz; 2x NCAA Qualifier
141-Andrew Alirez; 2020 NCAA Qualifier
174-Jackson Hemauer; 2x NCAA Qualifier
184-Alan Clothier; 3x NCAA Qualifier
KEY DEPARTURES
165-Jordan Robison
197-Jacob Seely; 3x NCAA Qualifier
285-Dalton Robertson; 2020 NCAA Qualifier
Northern Colorado loses three starters from last season, most notably Jacob Seely at 197, who has been one of their top performers over the past few years. Seely qualified for the NCAA Championships on three occasions and was fourth in the Big 12 in 2020.
At 197 and 285, they have answers in-house as Alan Clothier will be moving up from 184 to take the 197-pound spot and Robert Winters, who has started for them previously and missed most of last season due to injury, will return to the lineup at HWT. Clothier made the NCAA tournament once for Appalachian State, then twice since coming to Greeley. Winters has won 31 wins over the course of his four years at UNC.
TOP NEWCOMER
Benji Alanis (141)
Branson Britten (184)
Franklin Cruz (197)
Baylor Fernandes (Minnesota Transfer-157)
Vinny Zerban (165)
We mentioned earlier that Northern Colorado has been recruiting well lately. This incoming class of freshmen/transfers was ranked #19 overall by InterMat. Alanis led the charge as he finished his high school career at #25 on MatScout's Senior Big Board. In 2021, Nickerson's team signed a pair of top-100 recruits and six of the top 300 prospects.
As of now, the freshmen could redshirt, while transfer Baylor Fernandes is penciled in at 157 lbs. Fernandes went 16-3 while redshirting in 2019-20 and 1-2 last year for Minnesota.
WRESTLER TO WATCH
Andrew Alirez: Alirez down at 141 is the easy answer to go with here. He's dealt with some injuries that have kept him from getting some of the NCAA accolades I think he was aiming to have by this point in his career. But if Alirez can handle the 141-pound weight cut well, he could contend with guys like Dom Demas for the conference crown. It's not far-fetched to think he could find himself wrestling on Saturday at the NCAA tournament and finishing as an All-American.
POTENTIAL LINEUP
125-Jace Koelzer (So)
133-Mosha Schwartz (So)
141-Andrew Alirez (So)
149- Chris Sandoval (Jr)/Nate Moore (So)
157-Baylor Fernandes (Fr)
165-Nick Knutson(Sr)/Damen Pape (Fr)
174-Jackson Hemauer (Jr)
184-Xavier Vasquez (So)
197-Alan Clothier (Sr)
285-Robert Winters (Sr)
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