The Top Potential Matches at Each Conference Tournament

The 2023-2024 NCAA regular season has come and gone. This weekend the seven conferences that sponsor Division I wrestling will host their conference tournaments. The events will not only determine team and individual bragging rights but also qualification for the upcoming NCAA tournament. The following looks at the highest-ranked potential matches from each of the tournaments. ACC 149: No. 2 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 5 Jackson Arrington (NC State) Henson finished the regular season with a 24-1 record. His lone loss on the year came at the Cliff Keen International where he dropped a one-point match against No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska). Along the way, the Hokie wrestler picked up signature victories over No. 7 Ty Watters (West Virginia), No. 3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State), and, in his last match of the regular season, No. 5 Jackson Arrington. The bout between Henson and Arrington was a key match in one of the best duals of the year. NC State managed to escape with the 20-12 team victory, but Henson did his part. He scored a 4-1 victory over Arrington. Outside of that loss, the NC State wrestler has only two other losses on his record. He dropped a 9-8 match against No. 10 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State), and he got charged with a loss for medically forfeiting out of the event. Arrington got the win over D’Emilio in the rematch and also knocked off No. 18 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) and No. 21 Ethan Fernandez (Cornell). With the three-point takedown, their 4-1 match in the season finale was basically a one-move match. This bout could easily be one of the most high-profile and high-drama matches in the ACC tournament. Big 12 165: No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 2 David Carr (Iowa State) Fans were robbed of this national championship rematch last week. The Missouri staff did the right thing and announced ahead of time that many of their starters would be out due to illness before their match against Iowa State. The wrestling world hopes both of these competitors are at the top of their game heading into the Big 12 tournament. Last season, Carr looked destined to pick up his second NCAA title. He went undefeated through the regular season including a 7-2 decision over O’Toole in February. He followed that up with a fall in overtime against the Missouri wrestler in the Big 12 final. However, O’Toole turned the tables in the national finals and handed Carr his first loss of the season. This year, Carr has gone 19-1 with his only defeat coming against No. 3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. O’Toole has managed to keep a clean record through 16 matches. 184: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 2 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) After an undefeated regular season, Keckeisen came up short against three-time champion Aaron Brooks (Penn State) in the NCAA finals last year. With Brooks moving up to 197 pounds, the Northern Iowa wrestler became the clear favorite down at 184 pounds. He has certainly looked the part this season with an undefeated 20-0 record. One of the clear contenders at the weight is Plott. The two faced off in late January, and Keckeisen handed the Oklahoma State wrestler a 12-6 defeat. It was only the second blemish on Plott’s record this year as he previously dropped a bout against No. 3 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), which he quickly avenged in the same tournament. Big Ten 125: No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) vs. No. 2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) The 125-pound weight class has been a wild ride this year, but at the end of the regular season, the highest returning placer from last year’s NCAA tournament once again finds himself at the top of the rankings. Ramos took some early season losses including a sudden victory match against high school wrestler Marcus Blaze. However, he finished the year on a 12-match winning streak, and he went undefeated in Big Ten dual matches. The streak includes a 4-1 victory over Ayala back in January. The Iowa wrestler also had a bit of a wild season, but he finds himself ranked second heading in the postseason tournaments. Outside of the loss against Ramos, he also dropped matches against No. 16 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) and No. 17 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State). Ramos crushed the Hawkeyes with a shocking upset over Spencer Lee at the last NCAA tournament, and the Iowa fans will likely relish any opportunity to hand him a loss. 141: No. 1 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) Beau Bartlett clearly developed this season as Penn State wrestlers are known to do. After going 15-10 and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 2022, he improved to 27-3 and finished third last year. This season, he has gone 18-0 and knocked off the highest returning placer. He should be the favorite heading into the NCAA tournament, if he is able to win the Big Ten tournament and pick up another victory over Jesse Mendez. As a true freshman, Jesse Mendez took sixth in the Big Ten and then matched that placement in Tulsa. That came down at 133 lbs. He’s now up at 141 and looks even better. Mendez took the title in a CKLV weight class that featured eight of the top-ten wrestlers in the nation, from InterMat’s final rankings. Mendez has two losses on the year, but only one is to a Big Ten opponent, Bartlett - in sudden victory. EIWA 125: No. 1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs. No. 2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Crookham picked up one of the biggest victories of the early season when he upset Arujau at the Journeymen Classic. The Cornell wrestler was coming off an incredible run in 2023 that saw him win titles at the NCAA tournament, the Pan American Championships, and the World Championships. In the early season match, Crookham was able to score an 8-4 decision victory. The Lehigh wrestler was then able to maintain his momentum through the season. He finished with only 15 matches, but he went undefeated and picked up another signature victory over No. 11 Aaron Nagao (Penn State). It was seemingly the plan for Arujau to wrestle sparingly on the collegiate scene this year with the Olympic Trials process starting soon after the NCAA tournament. The returning champion wrestled in only 11 bouts and outside of the loss against Crookham went undefeated including victory over No. 9 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) and No. 6 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock). MAC 149: No. 14 Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) vs. No. 20 Caleb Tyus (SIUE) Munson has been a mainstay in the Central Michigan lineup for the last few seasons. He qualified for the last two NCAA tournaments and is looking to make a run at the podium this season. He completed the regular season with a 21-4 record. So far this season, Munson and Tyus have faced off twice. They met at the Midlands tournament, and the Central Michigan representative was able to escape with a 6-3 decision in sudden victory. The rematch came in the dual in late January. Munson was once again successful and prevailed with a 6-4 victory. Tyus has also worked his way into the rankings this year thanks to a 15-6 record. Since the Midlands, he has won all of his matches outside the two-point loss to Munson. Pac-12 157: No. 3 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. No. 8 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) After back-to-back All-American seasons in 2021 and 2022, Teemer sat out last season with an injury. He returned to the Sun Devil lineup this year and compiled a 19-3 record. After a loss against No. 14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) in early January, Teemer ended the year on an undefeated nine-match winning streak that includes wins over No. 10 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) and Cardenas. The Stanford wrestler made the round of 12 last year after wrestling in only four dual meet matches. This year, he has been the starter from the jump and put together a 22-5 record. During the year, he picked up signature wins over Chittum, No. 16 Will Lewan (Michigan), No. 9 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), and No. 6 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell). SoCon 125: No. 20 Anthony Molton (Campbell) vs. No. 25 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) Molton won only three of his first seven matches. However, since dropping a 10-6 decision against No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) in December, Molton has won his last 15 matches. However, during the season, he did not wrestle against conference rival and fellow ranked wrestler Palmer. This sets up an interesting potential SoCon tournament match. Palmer started the season with an impressive showing at the Clarion Open. He won the tournament and knocked off high school wrestler Marcus Blaze right after he defeated Ramos. He finished the season with a 14-2 record with one of those losses coming via injury default. His only other loss was against Appalachian State’s Chad Bellis.

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