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The college-level Reno Tournament of Champions might not be as prestigious as the Cliff Keen Las Vegas or the Midlands, but it is a staple of the early college wrestling season. It is also becoming a bit of a throwback to a bygone era. While many of the season tournaments have moved away from including teams outside of NCAA Division I, the Reno event has continued to be a place where teams can get a shot at the big boys. Air Force, Arizona State, Cal State Bakersfield. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Utah Valley, and Wyoming are all scheduled to attend. They will be joined by 10 teams from NAIA, two from NJCAA, and one NCAA Division II team. The following looks at some of the top wrestlers from the teams outside Division I. 125: No. 1 (NAIA) Hunter Sparks (Eastern Oregon) Sparks was an Oregon state champion on the high school level and signed with Cal Poly. After spending a single season with the Mustangs, he transferred back to his home state to wrestle for Eastern Oregon. Last season, Sparks entered the NAIA tournament as the fourth seed. In the semifinals, he upset the top seed Esco Walker (Grand View) but ultimately lost in the finals against Life’s Brandon Orum. So far this season, he has remained one of the top competitors at the NAIA level, but he did drop a match against Iowa State’s Ethan Perryman at the Grand View Open. 133: No. 1 (NAIA) Carson Taylor (Grand View) This will be Taylor’s third straight year in the starting lineup for the Vikings. As a freshman in 2022, he finished third at the NAIA tournament. He returned last season and made the finals before coming up short against Gulomjon Abdullaev (Menlo) who has represented Uzbekistan on the international circuit and won a pair of silver medals at the Yasar Dogu tournament. So far this season Taylor has gone undefeated including a victory over Iowa State wrestler Garrett Grice. 141: No. 1 (NAIA) Evan Potter (Southern Oregon) Potter has moved up to 141 pounds this season after spending his sophomore year down at 133. Like Taylor, his only loss at the NAIA tournament came against Abdullaev. Already this season, Potter has knocked off Keiser’s Pat Gould who is the highest returning NAIA placer at this weight. 149: No. 10 (NCAA D2) Lawrence Saenz (San Francisco State) Saenz’s long road has eventually led him to San Francisco State. He began his wrestling career at Fresno State. He qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2020 and then transferred to Cal Poly. After three years with the Mustangs, he will spend his last season with the Gators. Things have gotten off to a strong start as he has gone 4-1 and worked his way into the Division II rankings. Last week, he scored a pair of victories over NAIA wrestlers Eric Smith-Williams (Menlo) and Tomas Jacobo (Simpson). 157: No. 7 (NAIA) Tanner Abbas (Grand View) Abbas takes over the 157-pound spot for the Vikings this year. Last season, Giovanni Bonilla held down the weight for Grand View and finished third at the NAIA tournament. Earlier this season, Abbas made the finals of the Grand View Open before dropping a major decision against RJ Weston (Northern Iowa). 165: No. 3 (NAIA) Keller Rock (Embry-Riddle) Rock enters his third season in the lineup for Embry-Riddle. In his first two seasons, he assembled a 51-13 record and qualified for the NAIA tournament twice. So far this season, Rock finished fourth at the Roadrunner Open and scored a major-decision victory over Mateo De la Pena in the team’s dual against Cal Baptist. 174: No. 2 (NAIA) NaKoda Siegel (Montana State-Northern) Siegel finished the last regular season with a 26-4 record and entered the NAIA tournament as the fourth seed. He dropped a pair of matches at the event and finished fourth. He is looking to improve on that in his last year of college wrestling. Earlier this season, Siegel was named NAIA wrestler of the week after winning the Grand View Open. In the finals, he scored a 4-1 victory over Iowa State’s Carter Schmidt in sudden victory. 184: No. 1 (NAIA) Isaiah Luellen (Grand View) Luellen started for the Vikings at 174 pounds last season and established himself as one of the top wrestlers in NAIA. He entered the final tournament with a 24-3 record and earned the number one seed. He made it to the finals before dropping a 3-1 sudden victory match against Vanguard’s Gerardo Hernandez. So far this season he has gone undefeated outside of a loss against No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa). 197: No. 1 (NAIA) Owen Braungardt (Grand View) Braungardt is the returning NAIA champion at this weight. He entered the 2023 NAIA tournament as the three seed and made his way to the finals with three falls and a major decision. In the final match, he knocked off number-one-ranked Zane Lanham (Life) via a 6-1 score. Braungardt has been equally dominant this season as he has gone undefeated in three duals and picked up a pair of falls. 285: No. 1 (NAIA) Greg Hagan (Grand View) Last season Hagan put a stamp on the year as he scored a first-period fall over Austin Harris (Life) in the finals of the NAIA tournament. He enters this season as the clear favorite to repeat. To date, he has won a pair of open tournaments and gone undefeated on the season.

With Christmas break starting and National Duals right around the corner, this week’s college slate is a little light. Luckily for me, one of the best high school tournaments in the Pacific Northwest, Tri-State is at North Idaho College just a few minutes from where I now call home. Also, fantasy football playoffs start this week. So, everything kind of works out. But this is what I’m digging on this week, otherwise: 4. Will SDSU finally be at full strength? The Jackrabbits have very strong potential. I noted in my Crystal Ball NCAA Projections and corresponding show, that there’s a chance they could get to 15th or higher at the big show. I currently have them in 13th place with three All-Americans. And yet we haven’t seen them at full strength. Clay Carlson was injured just prior to the All-Star Classic and hasn’t wrestled a match yet. Both Tanner Cook and Bennett Berge didn’t go with the team to CKLV but rather competed at the Patriot Open. There’s a good chance, though, that all are back for what could be a good tilt at The Devaney Center vs. the 4th-ranked Huskers at 7PM Saturday on B1G+. It’s a dual where each team has eight nationally ranked wrestlers and should be a good contest. Caleb Smith, who is up to #8 in the rankings will face a rapidly improving Tanner Jordan who beat Patrick McKee this year. At 141 we could see two All-Americans head-to-head with Hardy and Carlson. And, at 197 we should get #6-Tanner Sloan vs. #11-Silas Allred. WrestleStat has projected a 20-13 Husker win. 3. A Sneaky Good Dual in Blacksburg On one hand, WrestleStat has a very lopsided projection of 28-3 for Virginia Tech who hosts Stanford on Sunday at 1PM. The dual streams on ACC Network Extra. And while I think a Stanford win is a long shot, I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility. And regardless, several of the match ups should be great. Nico Provo will lead off against returning All-American Eddie Ventresca who is still trying to find last year’s form. At 133, #6-Sam Latona is favored but don’t count out #16-Tyler Knox coming off a 5th place finish in Vegas. Both guys at 141 are unproven. And all four wrestlers at 149 and 157 are ranked in the Top 10. Additionally, should Mekhi Lewis still be dinged up, 165 thru 197 are all truly winnable bouts for Stanford. 2. The Youngsters At The US Open The most important aspect of my work involves the transition of talent from the high school level to college. So it probably comes as no surprise that I’m really interested in how the young guys compete at the US Open. True Freshman and Cadet World Medalist is seeded 11th at 65kg. And he’s joined by high schoolers Luke Lilledahl (#3, 57kg), Aden Valencia (#12, 65kg), Joe Sealey (#5, 74kg), Connor Mirasola (#5, 86kg), and Cole Mirasola (#10, 97kg). 1. The Next Batch of Olympic Trials Qualifiers The Top 5 place finishers at each Olympic weight will qualify for the Trials at this week’s US Open. The brackets are loaded and if you don’t qualify here there are just two remaining ways to get in: 1) Win NCAA’s or 2) win the Last Chance Qualifier. In short, after this weekend, we’ll know almost the entire field for the Olympic Trials. In particular, I’m really excited for 65kg. Is Andrew Alirez going to plant his flag as a serious Olympic contender at this weight? How does Alec Pantaleo look back down at 65? How will veterans Anthony Ashnault and Jaydin Eierman compete after considerable layoffs?