2021 NCAA All-American Michael Beard (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)
Welcome to another edition of the Jagger Bag. Hope you all had a good holiday weekend but now it's time to get back to some wrestling. We kick things off with the National Freestyle Duals this weekend followed by the big guns at the US Open next week. The last month has felt like an age and I'm excited to see mat action again. From Cadets to Seniors the country seems to be more loaded than ever and we should all just enjoy the amount of talent we get to see. Many questions will be answered in the next few weeks. And since that's also what I do, let's get to some.
Who's a darkhorse college guy who can make Final X? Lee C.
I'm very interested in seeing where Carson Kharchla stands with the big boys at 74kg. There may be a new crop of challengers for two-time World Champ Kyle Dake and Carson may very be the guy left standing when the smoke clears. If he's even competing. You never quite know until it's tournament time.
Editor's note: Here are the current entries for the US Open in Senior Men's Freestyle. As of now, Kharchla has not entered, but he still has time.
Where does Michael Beard end up now that he is in the portal? @Obrats
Michael Beard may be the guy with the most potential to enter the portal this year. It's insane that he has three years left since his first match was against a sophomore Greg Bulsak in 2019. With an AA already on his resume, and four years of college experience with three to go, I don't think we will ever see this kind of situation play out again. Throw in the alleged bags of cash and Beard is in an excellent situation to maximize his worth. I'd like to see him uphold his original commitment and return to Northwestern, but it's really anyone's guess where he ends up. My guess is Michigan. Find me a more perfect storyline than a guy losing his spot only to transfer
to a rival, that just happens to be the home state of the guy who beat him, just to challenge him on the big stage.
Who is your celebrity crush?
Who is your celebrity look alike? @AustinSommer
Meemaw from Young Sheldon. Annie Potts all day baby! Also, people used to say I look like Tom Green but I don't see it.
Is Vito a darkhorse? FinishedNumber
Vitali Arujau is a threat to win any tournament he enters on American soil. One of these days he will breakthrough.
What are your thoughts on Rutgers (the mecca of Italian wrestling)? @SethPetar
Messina
Olivieri
Raimo
Cetta
Fongaro
DeSantis
Soldano
Casale
Esposito
Colucci
And those are just the guys who are Italian on their dads' side. I know some of the other guys have to have some Italian moms, too. It's Jersey, everyone's a little Italian.
Can anyone tell me what happened to OSU's Echemendia this year? @buckeyenomo
Much like your handle, he's a buckeye no mo. Currently in the transfer portal, I'd be mildly shocked if he gets picked up by another school. I'm also not so sure his current "sponsorship" falls under NIL guidelines.
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