With two and a half hours until go time it is time for the summary.
It is a fight to escape the bottom. Seventy-three forum knuckleheads enter. But only one shall reign supreme. With more entries comes greater difficulty. But one of you has an eye for talent that the rest of us lack. Put this Dark Horse Derby win on your resume and you will have your pick of head recruiting positions at major D1 programs.
103 of the 170 wrestlers found a home on someone’s team.
44 of the 61 schools are represented.
Indiana and Cornell have the most wrestlers in the Derby with six.
No weight had every wrestler chosen at least once. But there was a pleasing symmetry to 8 of the 10 weights with ten, eleven, or twelve wrestlers chosen.
Sixteen of the seventeen seeds have at least one wrestler in the Derby. No one likes a #30 seed. Sad.
The top end of the bottom end of the bracket is favored. No surprise. But #18 seeds are almost 40% more popular than #17 seeds. Even #20 seeds are more popular than #17 seeds.
The #26 seed has seen an abnormally large number of AA’s. This year with Ryder Rogotzke and his penchant for big moves, that seed is well represented.
Let’s call the popularity of #18 seeds The Jacori Teemer Effect. Even more popular than Rogotzke, Teemer runs away with the Loving Cup.
Every weight had a clear favorite, though Josh Saunders was in the closest race with Mosha Schwartz.
One is the loneliest number for 29 wrestlers. They are the singularities who received a single vote. I am happy to say that two of them are on my team.
Though CHROMEBIRD is the most individual, with three lone wolves in his pack.
GimJustaFan wins the award for “most in the spirit of the event” team as the sum of his ten seeds comes to 238, the highest in the field.
Ionel and jross went the other way as their seeds sum to a mere 189 each.