Top Storylines Headed Into the NCAA Semifinals

Tonight’s semifinals are set and there are some awesome matchups on deck. Before we go weight-by-weight, one interesting tidbit of the quarters is that the magic number was six. We had six straight No. 6-seeded wrestlers make the semis from 133 to 165. Now, to get ready for all the action, here are the top storylines at each weight to watch for in the next round. # - seed 125 matchups #8 Richie Figueroa (ASU) vs #12 Anthony Noto (LH) #3 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs #10 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) Summary: The entire season this weight class has been the wild west. Over the course of the season six different guys had the No. 1 ranking and two of them - Noto and Ayala - are in the semis. That craziness has carried over into the tournament as the only weight where only one of the guys seeded in the top five is left in on the front side of the bracket with Ayala set to have a rematch against Barnett who he defeated 8-1 at Big Tens. Ayala sat out during the dual meet and after which Barnett tweeted a duck emoji in response which adds another layer to this rematch. On the other side, the bout between Figueroa and Noto is the highest seeded matchup of the semis. 133 matchups #1 Daton Fix (OK State) vs #5 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) #2 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs #6 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Summary: First, some low hanging fruit. Fix is now a 5-time All-American which is an impressive accomplishment no matter how you feel about “the old guys.” Second, this is the only weight in which the quarterfinalists were the top 8 seeds. Lastly, each of these matchups is a rematch that has taken place at some point. Fix and Ragusin wrestled last season and Fix pinned him in 2:25. On the other side, we have an all EIWA match where Arujau, the returning champ at this weight, takes on Crookham who has beaten him twice this season, including in the conference tournament finals. 141 matchups #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs #5 Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) #3 Beau Bartlett (PSU) vs #6 Lachlan McNeil (UNC) Summary: On the top side, Mendez will face Echemendia who started his career at Ohio State. However, Echemendia was there and left a year prior to Mendez joining the Buckeyes. Despite there not being any overlap between the two, I’m sure this one will be a serious scrap. On the bottom side of the bracket, we have a pair of high school teammates matching up. McNeil and Bartlett spent years leading Wyoming Seminary and will now face off for a chance to be in Saturday night’s finals. 149 matchups #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs #4 Caleb Henson (VT) #2 Kyle Parco (ASU) vs #6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) Summary: More rematches here at 149. Last season, Parco defeated Gomez in the second round, 6-3. Lovett and Henson faced off earlier this year in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite finals and that was won by Lovett, 4-3. 157 matchups #1 Levi Haines (PSU) vs #12 Bryce Andonia (VT) #2 Jacori Teemer (ASU) vs #6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) Summary: The history here is a little different. First, on the top side we have Haines and Andonian who met last year in the quarters. Haines ended up pinning Andonian and Andonian nearly pinned him. The more interesting rematch is between Cardenas and Teemer. They have hit three times this season with Teemer taking the win each time. However, Cardenas has closed the gap each time as Teemer’s point differential went from 8 points to 3 points then down to just 1 in the Pac-12 finals. Now they will meet again for a chance to make the NCAA finals. 165 matchups #1 Keegan O’Toole (Mizzou) vs #4 David Carr (ISU) #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) vs #6 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) Summary: This is such a tough weight class. The finals match from the last two years is now a semifinal as Carr, who is now a 5-time All American, will take on O’Toole once again to write the final chapter of their rivalry. Right now they each own a pair of wins over one another so this will be the penultimate bout. 174 matchups #4 Shane Griffith (Michigan) vs #9 Carter Starocci (PSU) #6 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) vs #7 Lennox Wolak (Columbia) Summary: We are getting everything in these semifinal matchups. There’s former champs, a true freshman that started the season in redshirt as a backup and a guy most didn’t see coming. We have a pair of NCAA champs matching up for the first time as Starocci and Griffith will look to make the finals again. Griffith is a two-time finalist and one-time champ and Starocci will be looking to make it back to the finals for the fourth time in the hunt for his fourth straight title. 184 matchups #1 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs #4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) #2 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) vs #3 Dustin Plott (OK State) Summary: Three conferences represented here with Plott and Keckeisen holding things down for the Big 12. This is also the only bracket where all the top four semifinalisst are still in contention for the title. Keckeisen will face Munoz for the second straight year in the semifinals. On the other side, Plott and Salazar will be meeting for the first time in their careers. 197 matchups #1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs #12 Rocky Elam (Mizzou) #2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) vs #3 Tanner Sloan (SDSU) Summary: Rocky Elam became the second 12-seed to make tonight’s semis and he is up for the biggest task as he is set to face three-time NCAA champion Brooks. When it comes to these matchups, none of these have ever happened before. However, three of the four guys here – Brooks, Hidlay and Sloan – have all been on the raised stage and will be looking to get back there again. 285 matchups #1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs #4 Cohlton Schultz (ASU) #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs Lucas Davison (Michigan) Summary: It’s no secret that Schultz isn’t a guy that lights up the scoreboard with points. And Kerkvliet is also not a guy we see give up a lot of takedowns, let alone lose a match. However, when it comes to their history, it’s Schultz that has the lead. Firstly, Schultz is the only guy left in the NCAA who owns a win over Kerkvliet. Second, Schultz’s win over Kerkvliet that came in 2021, ranks as the fifth most points he has scored throughout his entire career, it was a 14-8 decision. Those 14 points are also the most that Kerkvliet has given up in his career. The match between Hendrickson and Davison will be a rematch of last year’s semifinal that ended with a fall for Hendrickson. Records for teams that had multiple quarterfinalist: ACC VT: 2-2 NC State: 1-4 Big Ten PSU: 6-2 Nebraska: 1-6 Wisconsin: 1-1 Iowa: 2-2 Ohio State: 2-1 Michigan: 4-1 Minnesota: 1-1 Big 12 OK State: 2-1 UNI: 1-1 SDSU: 1-1 Iowa State: 2-3 EIWA Lehigh: 1-2 Cornell: 1-2 Pac 12 ASU: 4-0

Sign In

Top Storylines Headed Into the NCAA Semifinals

User Feedback

Recommended Comments

Create an account or sign in to comment

Create an account

Sign in

Categories

Rankings

Browse

Activity

Support