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In the interim between the B1G regular season and the B1G conference tournament, I couldn’t figure out what to write about. Then I thought, everyone loves awards and categories (everyone does, this is not up for debate), so that’s what I’m giving you. Will these awards be repeated next year? Who knows! Are there physical awards being handed out? Absolutely not! Will the winners be telling their grandkids about this? Most definitely. Let’s get right to it! Breakout star - This award goes to Ryder Rogotzke of Ohio State. There were several strong candidates for this award, but I can’t get past Ryder “Ride or Die” Rogotzke and his ability to seemingly beat anyone at any given time. The Buckeye true freshman started the season by losing his challenge match to Seth Shumate, but has finished the season by earning the coveted “Black Shirt” status, and compiling a 15-6 record (13 pins and one technical fall, which if my math checks out, means that he had 1 actual decision victory on the year). There has been some exciting action from newcomers this season, but none as consistently exciting as Ryder. He’s ready to get weird with it, so be ready to watch it all unfold. B1G Wrestler of the Year - People think that wrestlers go through a grind during the college wrestling season. I’m not saying that they don’t, but don’t underestimate the grind and laborious nature of picking the B1G Wrestler of the Year. So many Nittany Lions to choose from! Do we go with the most wins? I can’t bring myself to do that. Despite Beau Bartlett having the most wins, he was less dominant than many of his high-profile teammates. I can’t use winning percentage, because there are too many guys who remain undefeated on the team (the aforementioned Beau Bartlett, Levi Haines, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Carter Starocci, Aaron Brooks, and Greg Kerkvliet). All of those guys also have won more than half of their matches by bonus points, but Aaron Brooks has an absurd 92.86% bonus point winning percentage (shoutout WrestleStat). Of his 14 wins, 13 have been by bonus points. In fact, to this point in the season, the only person to hold him to a regular decision was Zach Glazier of Iowa (5-1 decision) the 3 seed at 197 for the B1G tournament. It’s hard to argue that someone this dominant isn’t the B1G Wrestler of the Year. So congratulations Aaron Brooks! You did it! B1G Match of the Year - This is kind of a legacy award for me, but these two deserve it. I love the Wisconsin v Minnesota battles, and most specifically, the 125 pounders. We have been so lucky to watch Pat McKee and Eric Barnett battle so many times, and despite the head-to-head record being slightly in favor of McKee (6-4 McKee > Barnett to this point), the matches always seem to be insane and exciting to watch. I was genuinely bummed to see that McKee and Barnett weren’t on the same side of the B1G tournament brackets, but I truly hope they either both make the finals, or meet on the backside, because it’s straight-fire watching these two battle. It’s like the Game of Thrones episode “Battle of the Bastards”, but a wrestling match. This season, in McKee’s last home dual of his career, it started with a takedown for Barnett (who at this point held a 3-1 regular season win total over McKee) and an eventual 4-1 lead after an escape in the second. McKee however gets a shot of his own, culminating in a wild scramble, and an eventual figure four on the head of Barnett, ending up in a pin for the Golden Gopher. You’d think that maybe an overtime match or something else would win this award, but not this year. Congratulations to Barnett and McKee for this match, and the battles over the years. B1G Dual of the Year - There was a lot of build-up headed into Michigan v Ohio State, and it absolutely delivered. The Buckeyes hosted the Wolverines in this season's installment of the continued rivalry. The dual started in just about complete control for the road team, as they won four of the first five matches. Sadly, we missed out on a potentially awesome match at 141, as Sergio Lemley did not pass the skin check. I don’t know when it will happen, but Mendez v Lemley will eventually be so much fun for us all. I hope it happens sooner rather than later. The Buckeyes win their first match of the dual at 165 with a late takedown for Bryce Hepner to take the 12-10 win over Beau Mantanona. Shane Griffith gets the 2-1 win at 174 over another stud freshman in Rocco Welsh, bringing the Wolverine lead to 19-9. With three matches left, two of which Michigan was favored in, it felt like the dual was essentially over. At this point, Michigan had won all of the actual matches except for one. This is when Ohio State turned up the heat, with a huge 21-0 technical fall for Ryder Rogotzke over Jaden Bullock followed by a decision for Luke Geog over Rylan Rogers. Two matches and eight team points later, we enter heavyweight with freshman Nick Feldman taking on Lucas Davison, the multiple-time All-American transfer from Northwestern. Feldman stepped up big at home for his team, and sealed the dual victory with a 4-3 victory over Davison, declaring to the NCAA field that he is as dangerous as they come. It was a wild dual to watch when it happened, and kind of more wild to recap after the fact. Congratulations to the Ohio State Buckeyes on winning dual of the year. B1G Coach of the Year - This award I had to break up and share between two coaches. Cael Sanderson is undoubtedly one of those recipients. He just continues to win! Sure, he was expected to win with this roster and some of the recent transfers, but this has been especially impressive. Messenbrink is probably somehow better than we thought (and I thought he was going to be a super freak, but this is nuts), Starocci and Brooks' dominance has been great. Kerkvliet in a field without Parris or Steveson has clearly shown that he’s head and shoulders above the competition, and they even seemingly broke the curse of 125 with a beast in Braeden Davis. All of this deserves recognition and a share of the Coach of the Year award. But this is what was expected on some level right? We thought this team was going to be amazing, and it turns out that they’ve delivered on those expectations. What was a little surprising to me was just what Nebraska and coach Mark Manning have done. We knew that there were some returning studs in guys like Hardy, Lovett, Robb, and Allred, but what to expect from the rest of the Cornhusker team? Well, it turns out the answer was a lot. Caleb Smith has shown the ability to beat some of the nation's best as he transferred in from the SoCon, Antrell Taylor has beaten All-Americans and is clearly a guy to watch out for, they even got a 300+ pound defensive tackle from the football team to cut weight and be their Heavyweight. They currently sit in third place in both the Intermat dual and tournament rankings, and I don’t know if even the biggest Husker fan would have predicted that at the beginning of this season. Also, Lenny Pinto has clearly jumped levels this year and has a bright future for this squad. So congratulations to both Mark Manning and Cael Sanderson on your shared B1G Coach of the Year award.

The 2023-2024 NCAA regular season has come and gone. This weekend the seven conferences that sponsor Division I wrestling will host their conference tournaments. The events will not only determine team and individual bragging rights but also qualification for the upcoming NCAA tournament. The following looks at the highest-ranked potential matches from each of the tournaments. ACC 149: No. 2 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 5 Jackson Arrington (NC State) Henson finished the regular season with a 24-1 record. His lone loss on the year came at the Cliff Keen International where he dropped a one-point match against No. 1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska). Along the way, the Hokie wrestler picked up signature victories over No. 7 Ty Watters (West Virginia), No. 3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State), and, in his last match of the regular season, No. 5 Jackson Arrington. The bout between Henson and Arrington was a key match in one of the best duals of the year. NC State managed to escape with the 20-12 team victory, but Henson did his part. He scored a 4-1 victory over Arrington. Outside of that loss, the NC State wrestler has only two other losses on his record. He dropped a 9-8 match against No. 10 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State), and he got charged with a loss for medically forfeiting out of the event. Arrington got the win over D’Emilio in the rematch and also knocked off No. 18 Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) and No. 21 Ethan Fernandez (Cornell). With the three-point takedown, their 4-1 match in the season finale was basically a one-move match. This bout could easily be one of the most high-profile and high-drama matches in the ACC tournament. Big 12 165: No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 2 David Carr (Iowa State) Fans were robbed of this national championship rematch last week. The Missouri staff did the right thing and announced ahead of time that many of their starters would be out due to illness before their match against Iowa State. The wrestling world hopes both of these competitors are at the top of their game heading into the Big 12 tournament. Last season, Carr looked destined to pick up his second NCAA title. He went undefeated through the regular season including a 7-2 decision over O’Toole in February. He followed that up with a fall in overtime against the Missouri wrestler in the Big 12 final. However, O’Toole turned the tables in the national finals and handed Carr his first loss of the season. This year, Carr has gone 19-1 with his only defeat coming against No. 3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) at the Cliff Keen Invitational. O’Toole has managed to keep a clean record through 16 matches. 184: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 2 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) After an undefeated regular season, Keckeisen came up short against three-time champion Aaron Brooks (Penn State) in the NCAA finals last year. With Brooks moving up to 197 pounds, the Northern Iowa wrestler became the clear favorite down at 184 pounds. He has certainly looked the part this season with an undefeated 20-0 record. One of the clear contenders at the weight is Plott. The two faced off in late January, and Keckeisen handed the Oklahoma State wrestler a 12-6 defeat. It was only the second blemish on Plott’s record this year as he previously dropped a bout against No. 3 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska), which he quickly avenged in the same tournament. Big Ten 125: No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) vs. No. 2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) The 125-pound weight class has been a wild ride this year, but at the end of the regular season, the highest returning placer from last year’s NCAA tournament once again finds himself at the top of the rankings. Ramos took some early season losses including a sudden victory match against high school wrestler Marcus Blaze. However, he finished the year on a 12-match winning streak, and he went undefeated in Big Ten dual matches. The streak includes a 4-1 victory over Ayala back in January. The Iowa wrestler also had a bit of a wild season, but he finds himself ranked second heading in the postseason tournaments. Outside of the loss against Ramos, he also dropped matches against No. 16 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) and No. 17 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State). Ramos crushed the Hawkeyes with a shocking upset over Spencer Lee at the last NCAA tournament, and the Iowa fans will likely relish any opportunity to hand him a loss. 141: No. 1 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. No. 2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) Beau Bartlett clearly developed this season as Penn State wrestlers are known to do. After going 15-10 and qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 2022, he improved to 27-3 and finished third last year. This season, he has gone 18-0 and knocked off the highest returning placer. He should be the favorite heading into the NCAA tournament, if he is able to win the Big Ten tournament and pick up another victory over Jesse Mendez. As a true freshman, Jesse Mendez took sixth in the Big Ten and then matched that placement in Tulsa. That came down at 133 lbs. He’s now up at 141 and looks even better. Mendez took the title in a CKLV weight class that featured eight of the top-ten wrestlers in the nation, from InterMat’s final rankings. Mendez has two losses on the year, but only one is to a Big Ten opponent, Bartlett - in sudden victory. EIWA 125: No. 1 Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) vs. No. 2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Crookham picked up one of the biggest victories of the early season when he upset Arujau at the Journeymen Classic. The Cornell wrestler was coming off an incredible run in 2023 that saw him win titles at the NCAA tournament, the Pan American Championships, and the World Championships. In the early season match, Crookham was able to score an 8-4 decision victory. The Lehigh wrestler was then able to maintain his momentum through the season. He finished with only 15 matches, but he went undefeated and picked up another signature victory over No. 11 Aaron Nagao (Penn State). It was seemingly the plan for Arujau to wrestle sparingly on the collegiate scene this year with the Olympic Trials process starting soon after the NCAA tournament. The returning champion wrestled in only 11 bouts and outside of the loss against Crookham went undefeated including victory over No. 9 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) and No. 6 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock). MAC 149: No. 14 Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) vs. No. 20 Caleb Tyus (SIUE) Munson has been a mainstay in the Central Michigan lineup for the last few seasons. He qualified for the last two NCAA tournaments and is looking to make a run at the podium this season. He completed the regular season with a 21-4 record. So far this season, Munson and Tyus have faced off twice. They met at the Midlands tournament, and the Central Michigan representative was able to escape with a 6-3 decision in sudden victory. The rematch came in the dual in late January. Munson was once again successful and prevailed with a 6-4 victory. Tyus has also worked his way into the rankings this year thanks to a 15-6 record. Since the Midlands, he has won all of his matches outside the two-point loss to Munson. Pac-12 157: No. 3 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) vs. No. 8 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) After back-to-back All-American seasons in 2021 and 2022, Teemer sat out last season with an injury. He returned to the Sun Devil lineup this year and compiled a 19-3 record. After a loss against No. 14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) in early January, Teemer ended the year on an undefeated nine-match winning streak that includes wins over No. 10 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) and Cardenas. The Stanford wrestler made the round of 12 last year after wrestling in only four dual meet matches. This year, he has been the starter from the jump and put together a 22-5 record. During the year, he picked up signature wins over Chittum, No. 16 Will Lewan (Michigan), No. 9 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), and No. 6 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell). SoCon 125: No. 20 Anthony Molton (Campbell) vs. No. 25 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) Molton won only three of his first seven matches. However, since dropping a 10-6 decision against No. 1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) in December, Molton has won his last 15 matches. However, during the season, he did not wrestle against conference rival and fellow ranked wrestler Palmer. This sets up an interesting potential SoCon tournament match. Palmer started the season with an impressive showing at the Clarion Open. He won the tournament and knocked off high school wrestler Marcus Blaze right after he defeated Ramos. He finished the season with a 14-2 record with one of those losses coming via injury default. His only other loss was against Appalachian State’s Chad Bellis.

The DI postseason kicks off on Friday as two of the seven conferences will hold their two-day conference tournaments on the eighth, as well as Saturday, the ninth. The. conference we’re looking at now is the MAC which has 22 allocations on the lineup. All year I’ve gone back and forth between who I thought would prevail in this MAC team race. We’re in early March, only two days away from the first whistle being blown and I don’t have much more clarity. Lock Haven has won the last two MAC titles and has the firepower in the front of their lineup with three number-one seeds. Rider navigated the dual season without a conference loss and has some big guns that could make for a deep run. Ohio has emerged as a threat in large tournaments. They have potential champions at 157-184 lbs, which may be enough to propel them. Perennial power Central Michigan looks tough and capable. Digging deeper, Cleveland State could have multiple champions and should everything come together; could take home the title. Here’s a weight-by-weight look at the conference along with predictions for the top four at each weight class (except 157 lbs) and picks for the team race. 125 lbs 2 allocations We start at a weight with a clear-cut favorite in Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) who is the only MAC wrestler to have assumed the #1 ranking nationally this year. Noto has won each of the last two MAC titles at this weight. Earlier this year, Noto suffered his first loss to a MAC opponent when he was beaten by Joey Fischer (Clarion). Fischer has traditionally been close with Noto - taking him to sudden victory at the 2022 MAC Tournament. Most are assuming that Noto gets one of the two allocations at this weight. After him, there are a handful of capable competitors who could grab the other one on their best day. Northern Illinois’ Blake West is responsible for earning that second allocation and has been very consistent all year. Last season, West went 24-9 and fell in the true second-place match with a berth in Tulsa on the line. West comes into Kent a winner of his last seven matches. His most recent loss came in the fifth-place bout at the Midlands in late December. Tyler Klinsky had one of the biggest wins of any MAC 125 lber when he knocked off then-#2 Dean Peterson (Rutgers). Klinsky hasn’t necessarily been consistent outside of the conference, but he’s only lost to Noto and West in-conference. The wrestler responsible for West’s only MAC loss is Central Michigan’s Sean Spidle. Spidle got the best of West at the Michigan State Open; however, West turned the tables in dual competition. Spidle finished the regular season with dual wins over Fischer and past qualifier Tristan Lujan (Michigan State). Along with Fischer, one of the others capable of crashing the top two is Cleveland State’s Ben Aranda. Aranda has wrestled better in the second half of the year and has a win over Fischer and took Klinsky to sudden victory during the final weekend of the regular season. Predictions 1st) Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) 2nd) Blake West (Northern Illinois) 3rd) Joey Fischer (Clarion) 4th) Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 133 lbs 1 allocation Just like last year, 133 lbs only has one allocation. And like last year, it was Gable Strickland who earned it. Strickland ended up winning the MAC and was the only wrestler from the conference to compete at 133 lbs in Tulsa. This year, Strickland has racked up the wins (28 total), but had a few head-scratching losses along the way. While he has the gaudy win totals, history on his side, and the allocation, he isn’t without a few conference blemishes. He’s taken two losses to MAC opponents this year, a sudden victory loss to Richie Koehler (Rider) and in mid-February he was pinned by Nick Molchak (Cleveland State). Koehler is the only one in the field with just one conference loss on the year. He’s beaten Strickland but lost to SIU Edwardsville’s Marcel Lopez - though that was in sudden victory at the Midlands, a few months after he had majored Lopez in a dual. Aside from Strickland, Koehler is the only wrestler in this field with past NCAA experience. He qualified in both 2021 and 2022. While Strickland/Koehler are the prohibitive favorites, this weight is still more wide-open than most and could have four or five other title contenders. Each of the remaining contenders has a good win or two under their respective belts, yet they have also a couple of losses, likely to each other. Molchak has also beaten Koehler, but has a loss to Bloomsburg’s Bronson Garber. Lopez split matches with Koehler but has also lost to Mikey Kaminski (Northern Illinois). Kaminski has a Lopez win but has fallen to Tommy Maddox (Buffalo). Maddox has split matches with Pablo Castro (Kent State). Pay attention, there will be a test on this later! I don’t envy anyone trying to make sense out of this weight for seeding purposes. Predictions 1st) Richie Koehler (Rider) 2nd) Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) 3rd) Nick Molchak (Cleveland State) 4th) Marcel Lopez (SIU Edwardsville) 141 lbs 1 allocation Like 133 lbs, this weight only has one automatic bid available and it was earned by a Lock Haven wrestler. This time it’s Wyatt Henson. Henson competed for the first half of the year unattached while straightening out NCAA eligibility issues. He suffered a loss in the season-opening Princeton Open, then proceeded to win four straight open tournaments and racked up bonus points more often than not. Once Henson made his way into the Bald Eagle lineup he won 12 of 13 duals and posted tech falls in his first seven contested bouts. Unlike 133 lbs, this weight has a clear-cut favorite in Henson. Any result other than him taking the title would be pretty surprising. After Henson it gets kind of fuzzy. Jacob Brya has not lost to anyone in the conference after Henson. The redshirt freshman from Northern Illinois has only seen action in 13 bouts, but has been very solid. He has no real puzzling losses. Similar to Brya, Clarion’s Ryan Sullivan is someone who has impressed in small doses. Aside from Henson, Sullivan is the only entrant in the bracket with past NCAA experience. He qualified for West Virginia in 2021. Sullivan is 9-2 on the year with losses to Henson and Central Michigan’s Jimmy Nugent. Nugent is expected to get the third seed after a really solid sophomore year. As a true freshman, in 2022-23, Nugent went 7-16 including a 1-2 showing at the MAC meet. This year he’s 17-9 with wins over Sullivan and Dylan Layton (Cleveland State), among others. Outside of the MAC, Nugent scored a win against Virginia’s Jack Gioffre, who is someone who earned an AQ for the ACC. Layton appeared to be on his way to qualifying for nationals last season before his season was cut short via an injury. This year hasn’t been quite as smooth, though he did take eighth at the Midlands. Others to watch in this bracket include Eric Almarinez (SIU Edwardsville) and Billy Meiszner (Kent State). Alarminez has a win over Nugent and Meiszner is approaching the 20-win mark. Predictions 1st) Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) 2nd) Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 3rd) Jacob Brya (Northern Illinois) 4th) Dylan Layton (Cleveland State) 149 lbs 3 allocations Now we’re cooking! It’s a weight class with three allocations. 149 lbs is a weight class with a handful of veterans who have already been to the big show multiple times, along with a few others who have been on the cusp of going. Most notable is Corbyn Munson, who finished the year ranked 14th in the nation and who has qualified for nationals twice. Even so, Munson is still seeking his first MAC finals appearance. He has placed fourth and third in the past two postseasons. Munson and teammate Johnny Lovett have flip-flopped between 149 and 157 lbs during the past three years. He was at 149 in 2022 and 157 last season. Munson did not lose to a MAC opponent this season and his last overall loss came in the third-place bout at the Midlands. The only MAC foe that even pushed Munson to extra time was SIU Edwardsville’s Caleb Tyus. That happened at the Midlands, though Munson prevailed by two points in regular time in dual competition. Tyus would go on to place seventh at the Midlands. Last year, Tyus was the MAC’s top seed at this weight class, but fell short of qualification with his sixth-place finish and needed an at-large berth. Also likely on the bottom half of the bracket is three-time national qualifier Quinn Kinner. Kinner likely gets the second seed based off of his head-to-head win over Tyus in the second week of the season. Kinner doesn’t have the consistency he’s had in years past, but is still very dangerous. He’s looking to get back to the top of the MAC podium, a feat he achieved at 141 lbs in 2022. The wrestler responsible for Kinner’s only MAC loss of 2023-24 was Lock Haven’s Nick Stonecheck. Last season, Stonecheck seemed to be a decent candidate for an at-large berth but was hampered by a 1-2 MAC tournament. This time around he’s probably not in as good of a position as last year, but is capable of going on a run resulting in an NCAA berth. After injury defaulting out of the Navy Classic, Stonecheck hit a rough patch in December, but rallied to finish the year winning 10 of his last 11 duals. The only wrestler to defeat Stonecheck during his late-season surge was Jaivon Jones of Northern Illinois. Jones is only 10-5 on the year, with four of those losses coming to wrestlers expected to assume the top-three seeds in this tournament. Though he’s looking for his first NCAA berth, Jones has posted winning seasons every year of his career. You could probably go eight or nine deep with wrestlers who are capable of making a run and grabbing that third qualifying spot. Kaleb Burgess (Buffalo), Derek Raike (Ohio), Douglas Terry (Cleveland State), Kyle Schickel (Clarion), and Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) have all shown flashes of that type of potential. All they need to do is channel that potential for three or four matches this week. Predictions 1st) Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) 2nd) Quinn Kinner (Rider) 3rd) Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) 4th) Nick Stonecheck (Lock Haven) 157 lbs 5 allocations 157 lbs is easily the deepest in the MAC and the only one with five automatic allocations. Last year, the weight had four. Even with two seniors leaving, others in the weight have stepped up to maintain a high level of competition here and nationally. Leading the charge is Peyten Keller, a third-place finisher as a freshman for Ohio in 2023. Kellar comes into Kent with an 18-2 record and is ranked #17 at an extremely deep 157 lb weight class. His only two losses this season came via one point and in sudden victory at the CKLV Invitational. Kellar is riding a ten-match winning streak that dates back to early-December and only had one conference bout within a three-point margin. The other veteran at this weight is Central Michigan’s Johnny Lovett. Lovett has been a two-time MAC finalist - winning the title in 2023 at 149 lbs. He’s looking to get back on the winning track after a couple of non-conference losses to top-20 opponents during the final weekend of the regular season. Lovett started his 2023-24 campaign with six-straight wins a span that included a title at the Michigan State Open. The highest of the three MAC placewinners at the Midlands was George Mason’s redshirt freshman DJ McGee. McGee posted a head-to-head victory over Lovett on his way to a fourth-place finish. Lovett was right behind him at fifth and Rider’s Colton Washleski was sixth. McGee started his year with seven straight wins and posted a huge upset of Minnesota All-American Michael Blockhus. It remains the only blemish on the record of the returning Big Ten finalist. The aforementioned Washleski has been an excellent revelation for the Broncs. He doesn’t have any bad losses on his resume and has only had one defeat since the calendar changed to 2024. Expect him as the fourth seed. The fifth automatic qualifying bid was earned by Clarion’s Alejandro Herrera-Rondon. Herrera-Rondon has an 18-6 record and hasn’t lost since going 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle on the first two days of the year. Since the Scuffle, Herrera-Rondon has only been held to a regular decision on one occasion. Lurking somewhere after the top five is two-time national qualifier Marcus Robinson of Cleveland State. Robinson only has five total matches on the year and is 4-1 in those contests. His lone loss came via a one-point decision to Washleski. If healthy and near top form, he could be a major player here. Others to look out for are SIU Edwardsville’s true freshman Brock Woodcock and Northern Illinois’ Munkhtulga Zuunbayan. Both have solid conference records without any bad losses; however, they also lack signature wins. Predictions 1st) Peyten Kellar (Ohio) 2nd) Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 3rd) DJ McGee (George Mason) 4th) Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 5th) Colton Washleski (Rider) 6th) Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Clarion) 165 lbs 1 allocation 157 lbs was the start of an imposing run for Ohio and that continues with top-seeded Garrett Thompson. Thompson’s emergence has been one of the pleasant surprises for the conference this year. After going 14-9 primary in open competition as a redshirt freshman, Thompson turned it up in 2023-24 with a 23-5 overall record. Thompson announced his presence with a title during the opening weekend of the year, at the Southeast Open, but his signature performance was a fifth-place finish at the CKLV. We’ll see if Thompson is vulnerable at the MAC Championships, as he was undefeated against conference competition; however, he did wrestle some close bouts down the stretch. One of those close matches came against George Mason’s Evan Maag. Maag finished the regular season of his redshirt freshman year with a nice 23-9 record, almost a third of which came via falls. Maag will probably have to settle for the third seed behind Cleveland State’s Tate Geiser. In December, Geiser notched a 10-3 win over Maag. His only loss against a wrestler in this field is to Thompson; however, Geiser does have three losses to MAC wrestlers that are not entered here. This is the weight where we’ll likely have the highest-seeded Bloomsburg wrestler in Caden Dobbins. Dobbins is 16-11 on the year and has head-to-head wins over a handful of wrestlers who could be seeded in his vicinity. The only wrestler in this bracket with past NCAA experience is Rider’s Jake Silverstein who was selected for an at-large berth in 2021. Silverstein holds a win this year over Maag and Clarion’s Eli Brinsky. Predictions 1st) Garrett Thompson (Ohio) 2nd) Evan Maag (George Mason) 3rd) Jake Silverstein (Rider) 4th) Tate Geiser (Cleveland State) 174 lbs 2 allocations 174 is an odd weight class with incredible depth. Seven entrants at this weight have qualified for nationals at one time or another in their careers. Now, not every one of them had their best year, based on the fact that only two allocations were awarded to this weight. Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) and Sal Perrine (Ohio) are responsible for the AQ’s. Perrine had some massive wins on his way to a fifth-place finish at the CKLV. He defeated two returning qualifiers along with a pair of promising true freshmen. Cramer’s big tournament finish was a seventh-place showing at the Midlands. When these two clashed it was Cramer who prevailed with a takedown in sudden victory. Despite the past credentials of the rest of the field, I’d expect Rider’s Michael Wilson to get the third seed. Wilson's only loss to a conference competitor came to Cramer. On the other side of the ledger, he has wins over past NQ’s Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) and DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State). Stoltzfus has missed significant time this year due to injuries, while Nassar is adjusting to a new weight. He’s down at 174 after spending the previous four seasons competing at 184 lbs. The story of this weight class in 2023 was unseeded John Worthing’s run to the finals and an NCAA berth. Worthing suffered his share of losses this year and had to injury default out of a bout with Stoltzfus in early-February and hasn’t competed since. It’s unclear how effective he’ll be. The other past qualifiers in this bracket are AJ Burkhart (Kent State) and Jay Nivison (Buffalo). Burkhart is just barely above .500, but comes in off of a win over Nassar in the final weekend of the regular season. Nivison's impact has been limited as he’s only seen the mat in ten duals this year. He could be trending in the right direction as he won four straight matches before closing the dual season with very tight losses to Perrine and Cramer. Predictions 1st) Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) 2nd) Sal Perrine (Ohio) 3rd) John Worthing (Clarion) 4th) Michael Wilson (Rider) 184 lbs 2 allocations I enjoy weights like this one where we’ve come into the postseason and some top contenders have not met each other this season. That level of uncertainty can make for an entertaining tournament. The returning runner-up at this weight is Zayne Lehman (Ohio), who made the finals and went on to compete at his first national tournament. Lehman doesn’t have any MAC losses this year and hasn’t lost since early January. Though he didn’t place at the CKLV, Lehman did rack up three wins, and two over ranked opponents. Even though Lehman has a longer track record, he didn’t earn an allocation at this weight, Cam Pine (Clarion) and Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) did. Pine jumped up two weights in the offseason and has been better than ever at 184 lbs. After a loss in the Southern Scuffle finals, Pine has reeled off nine straight wins, only two of which came via regular decision. With a 21-7 record headed into the MAC Tournament last season, Pine could have been on the qualification bubble - before he went on to finish seventh. Zuber was under .500 last year - his first as a full-time starter, however, he’s reversed that and comes in with an 18-6 mark. Despite his excellent record, Zuber does have a pair of losses to MAC competitors in Isaac Dean (Rider) and Deron Pulliam (SIU Edwardsville). That could leave him with the third seed. Right behind the big three is George Mason’s Malachi Duvall. Duvall has only lost to Pine and Lehman this year, within the conference. He does own an overtime win over Dean along with Lock Haven’s Colin Fegley. At this point, the brackets could get difficult to project. Chase Krantiz (Buffalo), Pulliam, Dean, and Adrien Cramer (Central Michigan) all have a good win or two, but also a loss or losses that could ding them seeding-wise. Predictions 1st) Zayne Lehman (Ohio) 2nd) Cam Pine (Clarion) 3rd) Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) 4th) Malachi Duvall (George Mason) 197 lbs 2 allocations Like 184 lbs, we have multiple allocations available and a pair of veterans who are the frontrunners for them and neither has met during the 2023-24 campaign. Both Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) and Ben Smith (Cleveland State) finished the year in the national rankings and each earned an AQ for the conference. While they didn’t meet this year, they have an extensive history. Smith beat Mitchell in the 2021-22 season and even farther back, in 2019-20. Other than a mental edge, I’m not sure if either result is really relevant at this point. Since early-December, Mitchell is 11-2 with his two losses coming to former All-Americans. Smith is on a similar run, having won 14 of 16; however, one of his defeats came to an unranked wrestler, which briefly knocked him out of the top-33. This weight could provide the best opportunity for the host Golden Flashes to get a national qualifier with Blake Schaffer. The sophomore is 22-9 with only two MAC losses on the year. One came to Smith and the other was from Austin Starr (Ohio). Starr has had a solid redshirt freshman year and has been very competitive. In the same vein as Schaffer, Jack Kilner may represent Edinboro’s best shot at a national qualifier. The veteran has a handful of conference losses; however, most have been one-takedown affairs. One long shot to monitor is Central Michigan’s Cameron Wood. The sophomore has a record under .500 but most of his losses have come out of the MAC. He has wins over Starr and Kilner. Predictions 1st) Ben Smith (Cleveland State) 2nd) Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) 3rd) Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 4th) Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 285 lbs 3 allocations We’ll close things out with a strong heavyweight crop that will be fighting for three allocations. Coming into the final weekend of the regular season, Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) was your clear-cut favorite. At that time, he hadn't lost since the Navy Classic in mid-November. That winning streak came to an abrupt halt when he was majored by Rider’s David Szuba. Szuba is a junior who has been solid for his entire career and was close to qualifying for nationals, yet is still looking for his first trip. Barring a stunning chain of events, Szuba is looking like a good bet to be in Kansas City after the Bucknavich win and a nine-match unbeaten streak to finish the regular season. Of course, seeding will be difficult at this weight as Szuba’s only MAC loss is to Jacobi Jackson (Northern Illinois), someone who Bucknavich edged, 2-1. Jackson has been an excellent revelation for the Huskies and garnered an AQ for the conference after going 12-4. His loss to Bucknavich and an early-season setback to Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) account for his only MAC losses. Jackson was able to get a measure of revenge with a 4-1 dual win in late-January. Caves likely gets the fourth seed. He was third in the MAC last season, as a redshirt freshman, and appeared ready to take another step forward in 2023-24. That hasn’t necessarily happened and Caves comes in with an 11-13 record. Still, the regular season is in the rearview mirror and Caves could certainly grab that third spot. Others who could throw a wrench into this bracket are Jordan Greer (Ohio) and John Meyers (Clarion). Greer’s only MAC loss was a close decision to Bucknavich; however, he’s lacking in the significant win category. Meyers started the year with a win over a returning national qualifier at the Clarion Open, but went into a slump for all of December. Predictions 1st) Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) 2nd) David Szuba (Rider) 3rd) Jacobi Jackson (Northern Illinois) 4th) Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) Team Race Projection 1st) Central Michigan 2nd) Ohio 3rd) Rider 4th) Lock Haven 5th) Cleveland State 6th) Northern Illinois

This weekend will be the 2nd annual NAIA Women’s Freestyle Championships. Here are some previews for each weight. 101 lbs: Top seed - Erin Hikiji, Providence Erin Hikiji is hoping to cap off a tremendous season with a redemption finals result to end up on top. Standing in her way will be a few tough wrestlers that Hikiji has previously beaten on that side of the bracket with Alyssa Quezaire of Missouri Baptist, whom Hikiji teched at the Warrior Open, and Esther Walker of Midland, whom Hikiji teched at the North Central Open. However, 2-seed Stefana Jalacic of Lourdes will certainly press Hikiji in the finals, if she can make it past a tough Kayla McKinley-Johnson of Menlo. There is also an unseeded but tough Devyn Gomez here who could certainly shake things up. 109 lbs: Top seed - Mia Palumbo, William Penn Mia Palumbo has already teched the 2-seed Alexsys Jacquez of St. Mary earlier this season, but there are plenty of ways this finals match could shape up. I would keep an eye on Providence’s Paige Morales at the 4 seed and Tehani Soares of Indiana Tech to make things interesting in their respective halves of the bracket. Regardless, I think Palumbo is on her way to an individual championship here as a leader on this William Penn team. 116 lbs: Top seed - Juliana Diaz, Missouri Baptist Diaz got the win over Avery Ashley of Oklahoma City at conferences to claim the top spot, but I wouldn’t guarantee you’d see the same result if they were to meet up again. Ashley is a tough competitor who’s seen a lot of action this season only dropping three matches including the one to Diaz, and thrives in a tournament setting. After finishing in 5th last season, look for Ashley to solidify a much higher All-American finish. Also bound to make waves at 116 will be Camille Fournier of Texas Wesleyan and Icart Galumette of Campbellsville. Galumette was the individual champ at Mid South Conferences after two quick pins and a big decision over Ariana Martinez of Life, seeded 7th at this tournament. If I had to pick a weight I was least confident in predicting the finals, it would be this one. 123 lbs: Top seed - Cristelle Rodriguez, Doane Cristelle Rodriguez battled to a 3rd place finish at 130 lbs last season, but has been even more dominant at 123 lbs. While there is a lot of tough competition, she should hold her own here. Look for a possible semis matchup between her and Anna Krejsa of Life, given that Krejsa gets past a tough Sophia Smith of Oklahoma City. Maya Davis, the 3-seed, of Grand View poses a real threat to Vanderwood making it to the finals as well. 130 lbs: Top seed - Carolina Moreno, Southern Oregon This should be a good one, and while the top two seeds are talented, so are their competitors. Moreno could see Alyssa Randles of Providence, whom Moreno recently teched at the dual. On the other side, two-seed Sarah Savidge of Life will likely meet up with Louisa Schwab of Menlo, whom Savidge pinned in the first period at National Duals this year. There is a lot of talent from the four top teams here, so keep an eye on those semifinal matches, in particular, and don’t count anyone out. 136 lbs: Top seed - Adaugo Nwachuckwu, William Penn Nwachuckwu is arguably the top pound-for-pound wrestler, and I don’t think anyone stops her from another title here. Her biggest competition should be two-seed Andrea Schlabach, but Nwachuckwu got the tech fall against her recently at conference finals. With that, Schlabach has earlier problems to worry about with a tough Zaynah McBryde of Life likely to find her in the semis. You also can’t count out former champ Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp of Providence; however in their previous meetings, she has not had much to stop Nwachuckwu from dominating. 143 lbs: Top seed - Jamilah McBryde, Life McBryde is Life’s only top seed in this tournament, and she’ll need to wrestle hard here to claim the title for the team. At the two seed you have Mea Mohler of Texas Wesleyan, who is a two-time All-American at 136 lbs, who has a strong, technical style that could put McBryde on notice. While I’d love to see these two in the finals, they’ve got a tough seven seed Bella Amaro of Southern Oregon who could go for a run, and an unseeded Madison Diaz of Grand View who gets a bye in the first. I would also keep an eye on Serenity De La Garza of Missouri Valley who will have McBryde in her first match, but I like her chances to wrestle back tough on the backside. 155 lbs: Top seed - Caitlyn Davis, Southern Oregon I really hope this one goes according to seeding, at least with the one and two to give us a Caitlyn Davis vs Latifah McBryde (Life) finals. McBryde was the only one to keep it close with Davis at the Menlo Open, losing 3-1, and with the team title on the line possibly between these two teams, Life could use an upset win here for another championship placement. I also think the first-round match between 4-seed Flor Parker-Borreo of Evergreen and Kendra Thompson of Campbellsville could make for a potential early upset for this bracket. 170 lbs: Top seed - Abby McIntyre, Grand View This finals match is seeded to be between Abby McIntyre and two-seed Ashley Lekas of William Penn. So far, the two are 1-1 this season with McIntyre getting the most recent win of the two at conference finals. It is hard to pick out a clear favorite based on their previous matches, so I am excited for the opportunity for them to settle it on the mat. Also, look for Shenita Lawson to wrestle to her seed and make it to the 3rd place match to score some pivotal team points for Southern Oregon. 191 lbs: Top seed - Tavia Heidelberg-Tillitson, Menlo Similar to Life as I mentioned above, Menlo only has one top-seeded wrestler in Heidelberg-Tillitson. She beat this year’s 2-seed Joanna Hendricks of Waldorf in the quarterfinals last year, but both have had success in the regular season this year that could mix things up if they make it to a finals face-off. I think the potential quarterfinals match between Madeline Welch of Life and Maquoia Bernabe of Cumberlands could be fireworks. At the dual between the two teams, Bernabe got off to an early lead before she got shut down by a flurry of offense from Welch. This top team placement really seems like a toss-up at this point. As you can see by the top seeds, there are no clear front runners. As far as qualifiers, Menlo will be sending the most wrestlers to compete with 12; Grand View, Southern Oregon, Life, and Texas Wesleyan will be sending 11; and the University of Providence is sending 10. Each team will need points from wrestlers on the back end and bonus points from techs and pins. As a reminder, unlike the NCWWC, all wrestlers from the team can score points for the team, even if there are more than one at the same weight. However, in teammate matchups, bonus points are not awarded. Please see my graphic for how team scoring will work at this tournament: