2021 NCAA All-American Yahya Thomas (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Northwestern Wildcats
Get ready for an experienced and veteran Northwestern wrestling team this season.
Entering the' 21-22 season, Northwestern returns nine of 10 starters from a year ago, including six of seven qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Matt Storniolo, now entering Year Six, believes the Wildcats have the potential to be as good as ever.
"This is the best place the program has been since I've been here," Storniolo said. "We have a veteran lineup. We should have a seasoned group of starters, which will be fun."
TOP RETURNERS
A lot of the Wildcats' firepower comes from the bottom portion of their lineup, in Michael DeAugustino (125), Chris Cannon (133), Yahya Thomas (149) and Ryan Deakin (157).
Cannon, Thomas and Deakin are all returning All-Americans, finishing seventh, third, and third, respectively, in 2021. DeAugustino is also a two-time NCAA qualifier who made the bloodround last year.
Deakin is a two-time All-American with a 32-1 record the past two years. He's been the 1-seed at 157 at the last two national tournaments. He also recently just made the finals of the U.S. men's freestyle world team trials. He is the face of the Wildcat program.
"For Ryan, it's a national title or bust," Storniolo said.
Both David Ferrante (165) and Lucas Davison (197) are the other two returning NCAA qualifiers for the Wildcats. Other experienced wrestlers include Troy Fisher (174), Jack Jessen (184), Jon Halvorsen (184) and Jack Heyob (285).
Storniolo said Ferrante leads a four-way battle for the starting spot at 165, Jessen is the likely front-runner to start at 184 ahead of Halvorsen, and that Davison will bump to heavyweight this season. He took fifth at 197 at the Big Ten Championships last year and went 2-2 at the national tournament, and has previously won a Junior world silver.
KEY DEPARTURES
Colin Valdiviez, who qualified for the NCAA Championships at 141 last year, is no longer listed on the Wildcats' roster. He went 2-2 at last year's national tournament, including a first-round upset over Iowa State's Ian Parker, and also took sixth at the Big Ten Championships. He went 57-48 over four years for Northwestern at 133 and 141.
With Valdiviez gone, Storniolo said Justin Benjamin and Frankie Tal-Shahar will vie for the starting spot at 141.
TOP NEWCOMERS
Andrew Davison, Lucas's brother, joined Northwestern after four years at Michigan. Storniolo expects him to slide right in at 197. He went 18-8 overall for the Wolverines between 2018-21, which includes just a 4-5 mark over the last two years.
WRESTLER TO WATCH
Yahya Thomas was the breakout performer for Northwestern at last year's NCAA Championships, storming to third place as the 25-seed. He went 6-1 overall in St. Louis, which came as a pleasant surprise to Storniolo after Thomas had gone 3-5 in his previous eight matches - including 2-3 at the Big Ten tournament.
As such, a lot will be expected from Thomas this season. He has always shown glimpses of his elite-level talent, with last year's national tournament and, previously, an appearance on the Junior men's freestyle world team … yet he is just 42-23 overall in his Northwestern career.
Storniolo believes this could be the year Thomas becomes a bonafide star - not just in March, but all year long.
"Yahya has always been that good of a wrestler," Storniolo said. "The biggest adjustment he made at the NCAA tournament is he went out there and put together a full seven minutes in every match. In the past, he picked and chose his spots to do that. Against the best guys, you have to put a whole match together.
"He's always been capable. Something clicked with him, and he deserves the credit for it."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
125: Michael DeAugustino (Sr)
133: Chris Cannon (So)
141: Justin Benjamin (So)/Frankie Tal-Shahar (So)
149: Yahya Thomas (Sr)
157: Ryan Deakin (Sr)
165: David Ferrante (So)/Erich Byelick (Jr)/ Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (Jr)/Aiden Vandenbush (Fr)
174: Troy Fisher (So)
184: Jack Jessen (Jr)/Jon Halvorsen (So)
197: Andrew Davison (Sr)
285: Lucas Davison (Jr)/Jack Heyob (Jr)
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