Who are your 2025 tournament dark horses?

[CHROMEBIRD]

Who do you think will wreck some brackets at NCAAs or their postseason tournaments? My picks are kind of lame because they're all familiar names from big conferences. Would love to hear about any diamond-in-the-rough types to look out for. But just off the top of my head:

Sam Cartella (Northwestern, 149 RSFR): great underrated wrestler imo flying a little bit under the radar since the weight is somewhat stacked. Big Tens will be tough no matter what his draw is, but I think he'll qualify for Nationals and AA.

Kysen Terukina (Iowa State, 125 SR): similar to Cartella, his conference tournament will be more brutal than the NCAA tournament. I don't think it would be too earth shattering to see him landmine some brackets at NCAAs, but I think he finishes his career at ISU strong and can AA.

Maximo Renteria (Oregon State, 125 JR): I don't remember how many allocations that Pac-2 has at this weight, but I think he's a better wrestler than his record indicates with a lot of close matches that could've swung either way. I think he's good for a big upset or two if he qualifies for Nationals.

Cobe Siebrecht (South Dakota State, 157 SR): Dunno what happened to him since leaving Iowa but the weight is very much up for grabs and I'd like to see him make some noise at NCAAs.
 

[funnyfletcher]

Isaac Dean at 184 has some solid wins this year, and some close losses to some higher ranked guys

[poorwrestler]

Tyler Wells, 133. Was in the blood round last year but has not had a good January/February. Will be seeded low, but is capable of beating almost anyone in the field imo.


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[Truzzcat]

Mark Anthony Mcgowan is my big one kid was as good of a recruit as there was until he had some injury stuff occur his senior year and then he did not wrestle all of last year and the start of this year. 

Ty whalen has not quite set the world on fire like he did during his red shirt last year but he has wins over parco and watters in the same tournament if he catches fire like he did at midlands he could find himself high on the podium.

Mac stout: Not sure if he qualifies he is pretty highly ranked but I dont see anyone talk about him. He lost pretty badly to Beard but I think Bear has an ability to put it on guys if they dont have a feel for his single. He has not lost in a few months and is one hell of a hand fighter which I think is a great attribute late in grueling tourmanets like this.

[wrestlingfan22]

Dylan Evans at 157 is as fundamental as it gets and has a win over Hip from VT. With the right draw he can make some noise and he is someone that most guys won't want to see

[MizzouFan01]

Cam Steed of Missouri. He can either go 0/2 or podium. Regardless, he will let it fly. 

[GimJustafan]

125 Gallagher from Penn / NQ last year (0-2)

some close losses and keeps most matches close / seem a little gun shy at times if he can open up his offense  he gets on the podium 

[flyingcement]

Ethan Stiles shouldn't be a dark horse, but you don't see him mentioned many places.  He's had an incredible year especially down at 149.  

[Wrestleknownothing]

In thinking about dark horses I originally wanted to limit it to guys outside of the top 8 as they are already ranked for AA. But then I got to thinking about the 9 - 12 group and how they are only a blood round win away (in theory), from AA.

So I decided to limit myself to 13 and higher. The higher the darker.

Then I looked for guys with some rankings momentum.

Here is what I have:

I love that there are guys from Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Campbell, Bucknell, Navy, Army, and Bakersfield that are rallying into their conference tournaments. Those are the guys I am pulling hardest for.

[Wrestleknownothing]

15 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

Ethan Stiles shouldn't be a dark horse, but you don't see him mentioned many places.  He's had an incredible year especially down at 149.  

From #31 at 157 to #5 at 149. Like a rocket.

[BruceyB]

3 hours ago, MizzouFan01 said:

Cam Steed of Missouri. He can either go 0/2 or podium. Regardless, he will let it fly. 

I was really disappointed he spent so much of this season injured after being a backup last year. I want to see how he does if competing fully healthy.

[BruceyB]

1 hour ago, flyingcement said:

Ethan Stiles shouldn't be a dark horse, but you don't see him mentioned many places.  He's had an incredible year especially down at 149.  

He has been super impressive at 149, but I am curious about whether or not he can string together tough wins in a tournament format. Always exciting to have a young and talented wrestler at a non-traditional wrestling school. I hope he stays at Oregon State for the next few years as well.

[Konquest]

Oakley from UNC has had some pretty nice wins in the last several weeks.  Minto from Nebraska came out of nowhere as well.

[AgaveMaria]

Carter Young, OSU.

A number of losses that could have gone his way. We'll see if Coach Taylor somehow gets him past the mental hurdle that has held him back in too many matches.

 

[ionel]

Just now, AgaveMaria said:

Carter Young, OSU.

A number of losses that could have gone his way. We'll see if Coach Taylor somehow gets him past the mental hurdle that has held him back in too many matches.

 

I'll bet no and give you good odds. 

[okokzach]

Teague Travis. He's the darkest of horses. To even make the NCAA tournament, he needs to earn one of the now only *four* conference allocations (down from 6 because Carter Young and Jesse Vasquez aren't going). He's coming off a long layoff from injury where the plan had been to medically redshirt him. And he's going down a weight class. 

[RawDog]

Bouzakis and Williams. Both have all the talent but just need to put it together upstairs.

[Wildcat92]

Blake Boarman from Chattanooga could be a darkhorse to get on the podium.  His win over Bailey earlier in the season shows he has the talent to be on the podium. 

[Gus]

#19 Jared Hill - 157 Wyoming. Has multiple career wins over a tough #22 Vinny Zerban and wins over #8 Askey, #20 Swisher, #23 McGee, #25 Washleski. Has solid defense and rarely gets blown out.

#20 Matty Singleton - 174 NC State. Athletic guy that has made a world team. Has wins over #21 Wolak, #11 Ruiz, #27 Conley, #24 Turley, and #28 Uliano. 

[BloodRound]

19 hours ago, funnyfletcher said:

Isaac Dean at 184 has some solid wins this year, and some close losses to some higher ranked guys

I am predicting an AA finish for Dean, as it seems Rider has some magic with one guy year in and year out.

[CHROMEBIRD]

19 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

In thinking about dark horses I originally wanted to limit it to guys outside of the top 8 as they are already ranked for AA. But then I got to thinking about the 9 - 12 group and how they are only a blood round win away (in theory), from AA.

So I decided to limit myself to 13 and higher. The higher the darker.

Then I looked for guys with some rankings momentum.

Here is what I have:

I love that there are guys from Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Campbell, Bucknell, Navy, Army, and Bakersfield that are rallying into their conference tournaments. Those are the guys I am pulling hardest for.

This is awesome. Thanks! The query based on ranking >= 13, not a prior AA, and who have had the biggest jumps in the rankings over the last x weeks? Asking because if there's a way to see which weights have the most losses in the #1-12 ranks, or the biggest ranking changes from say, 3-15, it would an interesting view of which weights the analytics indicates is the most wide-open - then that could be applied to the dark horse list to see who got a better chance at landmining a bracket.

[CHROMEBIRD]

What's the story with Jordan Decatur these days? Is he healthy?

[Elevator]

Keck and Kerk

[Wrestleknownothing]

2 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

This is awesome. Thanks! The query based on ranking >= 13, not a prior AA, and who have had the biggest jumps in the rankings over the last x weeks? Asking because if there's a way to see which weights have the most losses in the #1-12 ranks, or the biggest ranking changes from say, 3-15, it would an interesting view of which weights the analytics indicates is the most wide-open - then that could be applied to the dark horse list to see who got a better chance at landmining a bracket.

I did not have an AA requirement in the query. And rather than biggest jump I went with the slope of the line since the beginning of the season. Some guys didn't have a huge jump, but they just kept moving up the ladder.

Busy at work today, but I will see what I can do.