Dark Horses

[Gus]

Who is the lowest ranked wrestler currently that you would not be shocked to see making the NCAA Finals? I listed a few examples below. Using Intermat Rankings of course.

Michael Carr 157 (Illinois) Ranked 20th

Casey Swiderski 141 (ISU) Ranked 19th

Tanner Sloan 197 (SDSU) Ranked 12th

Matt Ramos 125 (Purdue) Ranked 10th

Jesse Mendez 133 (tOSU) Ranked 9th

Brock Mauller 149 (Mizzou) Ranked 8th

Jacob Warner 197 (Iowa) Ranked 8th

[Wrestleknownothing]

28 minutes ago, Gus said:

Who is the lowest ranked wrestler currently that you would not be shocked to see making the NCAA Finals? I listed a few examples below. Using Intermat Rankings of course.

Michael Carr 157 (Illinois) Ranked 20th

Casey Swiderski 141 (ISU) Ranked 19th

Tanner Sloan 197 (SDSU) Ranked 12th

Matt Ramos 125 (Purdue) Ranked 10th

Jesse Mendez 133 (tOSU) Ranked 9th

Brock Mauller 149 (Mizzou) Ranked 8th

Jacob Warner 197 (Iowa) Ranked 8th

For me it is Jesse Mendez. 

[Gus]

27 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

For me it is Jesse Mendez. 

Very tough kid. His 13-12 loss to Gross at World Team Trials put him on my radar as someone to take serious. It will be interesting to see how he stacks up against the top 3 guys (RBY, Fix, Vito).

[NotMikeMal]

Love these type of topics! NCAA finals is a little tough run but I’ll bite. With a sprinkle of some sneaky AA. I’ll stay within rank #10 and below. 
 

125- Brett Ungar #13 (AA) close matches with a lot of tough kids 

133- Chris Cannon #13 (Finalist) *Fix gotta move up/down 

141- Casey Swiderski #19 (Champ) god I love this kid, hope he’ gets healthy. 
141- HM- Mosha Schwartz #28 (AA)

149- Jonathan Millner #10 (Finalist) 

157- Levi Haines #17 (Finalist) Penn St NCAA magic enough said

165- Tanner Cook #18 (Finalist) smells like Kizhan Clarke here. He either makes the finals or goes 1-2 

174- Edmond Ruth #10 (AA) not much of a stretch but I don’t see anyone beating the top 4 at this weight 

184- Lenny Pinto #16 (AA) STRONG LIKE BULL

197- Cameron Caffey #14 (Finalist) Crazy weight, he’s athletic enough to get up big on good guys and hold on. 

HVY- Hunter Catka #23 (AA) no damn idea who to pick here 

 

[Nailbender]

"Strong like bull" love it.

[flyingcement]

Tanner Cook - the darkest horse that ever galloped 

[ionel]

Ok not a "dark" horse but maybe he's got a chance:

[bnwtwg]

Does Phillippi count as a dark horse if it has been 7 years in the making?

174: Edmond Ruth

184: throw a dart at the bottom side of the bracket opposite Brooks. Wherever it lands, that person has a good shot at making a run for second place.

197: anyone seeded 1-16 has a shot. Dean and Warner aren't dark horses as returning finalists but they aren't far off. So I'll say Braunagel even though I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't qualify either.

[Gus]

3 hours ago, NotMikeMal said:

Love these type of topics! NCAA finals is a little tough run but I’ll bite. With a sprinkle of some sneaky AA. I’ll stay within rank #10 and below. 
 

125- Brett Ungar #13 (AA) close matches with a lot of tough kids 

133- Chris Cannon #13 (Finalist) *Fix gotta move up/down 

141- Casey Swiderski #19 (Champ) god I love this kid, hope he’ gets healthy. 
141- HM- Mosha Schwartz #28 (AA)

149- Jonathan Millner #10 (Finalist) 

157- Levi Haines #17 (Finalist) Penn St NCAA magic enough said

165- Tanner Cook #18 (Finalist) smells like Kizhan Clarke here. He either makes the finals or goes 1-2 

174- Edmond Ruth #10 (AA) not much of a stretch but I don’t see anyone beating the top 4 at this weight 

184- Lenny Pinto #16 (AA) STRONG LIKE BULL

197- Cameron Caffey #14 (Finalist) Crazy weight, he’s athletic enough to get up big on good guys and hold on. 

HVY- Hunter Catka #23 (AA) no damn idea who to pick here 

 

Cook just needs 5 guys to walk into his gator bacon  

[Gus]

14 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

Does Phillippi count as a dark horse if it has been 7 years in the making?

174: Edmond Ruth

184: throw a dart at the bottom side of the bracket opposite Brooks. Wherever it lands, that person has a good shot at making a run for second place.

197: anyone seeded 1-16 has a shot. Dean and Warner aren't dark horses as returning finalists but they aren't far off. So I'll say Braunagel even though I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't qualify either.

Phillipi has been so solid its hard to believe that he has never AA'd. He has been R12 3 times at NCAA's. His R12 opponents have been Chris Cannon, Lucas Byrd and RBY.

[headshuck]

Isaiah Salazar, Minnesota. #16 11-1

[Gus]

20 minutes ago, headshuck said:

Isaiah Salazar, Minnesota. #16 11-1

He has been wrestling tough. Will he be able to break through the likes of Brooks, Hidlay, Keck??

[poorwrestler]

He has been wrestling tough. Will he be able to break through the likes of Brooks, Hidlay, Keck??

I don’t think he’s capable of getting to that tier yet. Lucky for him, 184 is one of those rare weights where the top 5-8 doesn’t have near as many Big-Ten wrestlers. If he’s able to take advantage of that and place high (I think he could place as high as 2nd) in the Big Tens, he could earn himself a favorable seed at NCAA’s. I want to see him wrestle Abe Assad, Finesilver, Romero, and Pinto again.


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[PortaJohn]

21 hours ago, Gus said:

Jesse Mendez 133 (tOSU) Ranked 9th

 

21 hours ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

For me it is Jesse Mendez. 

What in the world has you two entertaining the idea Jesse even has a chance against Vito, Fix, or RBY.  Heck, I'm not sure Mendez will make it past the blood round

[Wrestleknownothing]

49 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

 

What in the world has you two entertaining the idea Jesse even has a chance against Vito, Fix, or RBY.  Heck, I'm not sure Mendez will make it past the blood round

Checks category. Yep, it says Dark Horses.

OK, what was the question again?

[Elevator]

Some good ones nominated above.  A few more:

Pentz 14th at 197

O'Malley 10th at 174

Zapf 11th at 149

 

At 149, I am not betting against Yianni, but I wonder if this might be the deepest weight overall.  Yianni is something, the top 5 are very solid, experienced, and dangerous, and the next ten afer that has many guys that are close (top 15 has many spoilers).   I saw the match between Parco and Johnson and they were both excellent.  Millner at 9th says a lot - he is very tough.

 

[500 wrestler]

Here are my dark horses, all ranked 14 or lower (yes that is arbitrary, but I like a few 14s) who have never AAd. Some are stretches for sure:

125: Braxton Brown (Maryland) #18

133: Aaron Nagao (Minnesota) #15

141: Vince Cornella (Cornell) # 16

149: Quinn Kinner (Rider) # 23

157: Chase Saldate (Michigan State) # 15

165: Caleb Fish (Michigan State) #25

174: Rocky Jordan (Chattanooga) #14

184: Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) #16

197: Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) #14

Hwt: AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) # 14 (Almost picked Jason Bullock here)

And no I did not go to Michigan State, I went to the real Big Red (hint: not Nebraska)

 

[Gus]

1 hour ago, PortaJohn said:

 

What in the world has you two entertaining the idea Jesse even has a chance against Vito, Fix, or RBY.  Heck, I'm not sure Mendez will make it past the blood round

For starters, he beat Lucas Byrd in his first college tournament as a true freshman.....

[Wrestleknownothing]

9 minutes ago, 500 wrestler said:

 

184: Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) #16 @jajensen09 approved

197: Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) #14 Man, I am really disappointed I didn't think of this one, too. Love me some Cam Caffey.

 

 

 

[PortaJohn]

30 minutes ago, Wrestleknownothing said:

Checks category. Yep, it says Dark Horses.

OK, what was the question again?

Not every weight class has a dark horse with a chance to win it

[PortaJohn]

22 minutes ago, Gus said:

For starters, he beat Lucas Byrd in his first college tournament as a true freshman.....

I believe Lucas Byrd is 1-3 against ranked opponents this year. I wouldn't use him as a barometer for being a finalist.

[poorwrestler]

Some good ones nominated above.  A few more:
Pentz 14th at 197
O'Malley 10th at 174
Zapf 11th at 149
 
At 149, I am not betting against Yianni, but I wonder if this might be the deepest weight overall.  Yianni is something, the top 5 are very solid, experienced, and dangerous, and the next ten afer that has many guys that are close (top 15 has many spoilers).   I saw the match between Parco and Johnson and they were both excellent.  Millner at 9th says a lot - he is very tough.
 

Owen Pentz NDSU is capable of pinning anybody at anytime. Not sure if he’s a potential finalist, but if I was a high seed that had him in the quarters I’d be nervous.


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[Wrestleknownothing]

17 minutes ago, PortaJohn said:

Not every weight class has a dark horse with a chance to win it

I guess we fundamentally disagree. Also the premise was make the final, rather than win the final. How many had Kizhan Clarke making the 141 final last year (or getting the first takedown)? A chip and a chair.

[D3UC157]

157, everyone is the favorite and the dark horse.

[ionel]

31 minutes ago, D3UC157 said:

157, everyone is the favorite and the dark horse.

seeding won't matter