InterMat Staff

I’m getting more and more excited about today’s trip down to Chapel Hill for the ACC Championships. I’m clearly biased but I love the format of the ACC tournament and the chaos that can be caused by one upset. There are some huge potential matchups this year, and with the lower number of allocations, there is even more on the line than usual. Let’s take a look at some of the bigger matches we could see on later today. Best opening round matches for the ACC tournament 141 4 Lachlan McNeil v 5 Jack Gioffre We didn’t see this match in the dual so it will be the first time for this matchup. McNeil had a rough stretch in the ACC, but is still one of the best in the country. I would expect to see him trying to make a statement this weekend in a very tough weight. Gioffre is a wildcard. He has some great wins and some odd losses, but is a dangerous opponent that will throw the kitchen sink at you to get a win. 149 4 Finn Solomon v 5 Michael Gioffre We saw this one in the dual with a 13-5 major decision for Solomon, but I am interested to see if a healthy Gioffre is able to close that gap. 174 4 Alex Faison v 5 Luca Augustine This one could be the difference between earning an automatic qualifier spot. Faison holds a 3-0 lifetime series lead over Augustine, with each match being decided by 2 points. Their matches are always tight and this one shouldn’t be any different. 197 4 Mac Stout v 5 Krystian Kinsey Stout took a 12-3 major over Kinsey in the dual a few weeks ago and he has looked solid all season. This is another match that will have major qualifier implications and I’m curious to see if Kinsey has a better performance this time out. Best Potential Semifinals 125 2 Cooper Flynn v 3 Spencer Moore This match will decide an automatic bid--the winner will be going to Kansas City and the loser will have to wrestle back to place 3rd and hope for a wild card. Flynn took a 4-2 decision over Moore in the dual but both have had great seasons. This one will be scrappy. 133 2 Marlon Yarbrough v 3 Sam Latona Yarbrough got the higher seed thanks to his big win over Latona in the dual. Yarbrough has put together a solid season and looked great in ACC duals. Latona has some huge wins this year, and some not so great losses. But we have seen time and time again that Latona knows how to win in the postseason. I’m interested to see if the veteran experience of Latona can make a difference. 141 1 Cole Matthews v 4 Lachlan McNeil Matthews earned a 6-2 decision over the higher ranked McNeil during his unblemished run through ACC competition. Matthews had an up and down year but the back half of the season saw him return to All-American form with three top-5 wins. McNeil’s season was opposite--he looked fantastic through the majority of the season and had an 0-4 run through ACC duals. McNeil looked strong last week wrestling for Team Canada in Acapulco, I’m hopeful that he has reset and is back to his best form for the postseason. Both of these semifinals have major NCAA implications with only 3 automatic bids. 2 Ryan Jack v 3 Tom Crook Not only will there be NCAA implications here, this match will be big in the team race between NC State and Virginia Tech. Jack took their match in the dual in a controlling decision. I have been incredibly impressed with the growth from Jack this season, he is poised and confident in matches that he seemed to get overwhelmed with previously. Crook has looked great since coming out of redshirt mid-year and has some solid wins on the year. He has the ability to beat Jack and a win here for the Hokies could go a long way in the team battle. 157 2 Ed Scott v 3 Bryce Andonian This match is always circled as a must-watch. For this one in particular I have it circled and highlighted and written in bright ink. Andonian is returning from a long absence after injuring his knee in the dual against Cornell. All signs point to him being ready to go and throw caution to the wind in his final ACC tournament. Scott has had ups and downs this season but has looked incredible of late. Andonian holds a 4-2 series advantage but Scott has won the last two meetups. Buckle up, expect chaos and prepare to be entertained. 165 2 Holden Heller v 3 Connor Brady Heller, Brady and 1-seed Derek Fields were all 4-1 in the ACC. Heller beat Brady who beat Fields who beat Heller, a big triangle of craziness. Brady and Fields earned the two allocations for this weight, with Heller being .5% shy in his winning percentage. The winner of this match has a trip to Kansas City, the loser will be looking to battle back to earn a wild card. Both of them have had up and down seasons and I would consider this a true toss up with how they have both been wrestling. 174 2 Justin McCoy v 3 Tyler Eischens McCoy took the match in the dual with Eischens trying to mount a late comeback. McCoy has looked good moving up a weight and his only loss in conference is to Mekhi Lewis. Eischens had a slower start upon coming to Chapel Hill but has seemed to find his rhythm and has been wrestling very well. There are four slots up for grabs at this weight, so the winner goes to KC with the loser needing to win another match to guarantee their trip. 184 1 TJ Stewart v 4 Gavin Kane These two met during the opening week of ACC competition; Stewart stormed out to an early lead, but Kane fought his way back to get the 11-8 win in sudden victory. Since then. Stewart has been unbeaten including wins over top-10 ranked opponents Reece Heller and Dylan Fishback, who are on the other side of the bracket. Kane is 17-7 on the year with some good wins and a couple questionable losses that can be attributed to wrestling through an injury. This has the makings of a fantastic matchup. 2 Reece Heller v 3 Dylan Fishback These two also met opening week with the veteran Heller taking the close 4-3 decision over the redshirt freshman Fishback. Both have put together stellar seasons and spent a lot of time ranked in the top-10. This is another tight matchup that will come down to who is able to break through some strong defense. This weight also has four qualifiers so the semifinal winners are in and the losers will have to win a match on the back side to earn their trip. 197 2 Andy Smith v 3 Max Shaw I think this will be an interesting rematch. Smith took the upset win in the dual over Shaw 4-2. Both have had strong seasons, Shaw is 17-4 while Smith is 14-7 but the majority of both of their losses are to top-10 ranked opponents. I would expect a lower scoring defensive match here, but both of them have the ability to open up and score a lot of points. 285 1 Owen Trephan v 4 Dayton Pitzer This one is a wildcard. Pitzer has shown glimpses of his talent over the last two years with some huge wins, but after an injury against Cohlton Schultz in the dual, he has been out for several weeks. Trephan has been incredibly consistent for the Wolfpack and seems to be able to find ways to win close matches. The winner here is guaranteed a spot in Kansas City, the loser will have to hope for a wildcard--which may be difficult for Pitzer since he had a shortened season. 2 Hunter Catka v 3 Ryan Catka The brothers will battle for a spot in the NCAA tournament. I’m sure they’ve play wrestled this scenario growing up, but we should see this center stage on Sunday. Their match in the dual was very exciting, with Ryan getting in on several shots but Hunter utilizing his strong defense to fend him off. This will be a big match-up--literally and figuratively--with big implications.

2024 SoCon Championships Team Scores 1. Appalachian State 114 2. Campbell 97.5 3. Chattanooga 63.5 4. Gardner-Webb 49.5 5. The Citadel 44.5 6. Davidson 23 7. VMI 18 8. Presbyterian 5.5 Championship Finals 125 lbs - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) maj Drew West (Gardner-Webb) 14-2 133 lbs - Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) dec Dom Zaccone (Campbell) 5-4 141 lbs - Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga) dec Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 14-8 149 lbs - Cody Bond (Appalachian State) dec Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) 2-0 157 lbs - Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) dec Tanner Peake (Davidson) 9-2 165 lbs - Will Miller (Appalachian State) dec Dom Baker (Campbell) 8-3 174 lbs - Austin Murphy (Campbell) dec Sergio Desiante (Chattanooga) 5-4 184 lbs - Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) dec Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 5-4 197 lbs - Levi Hopkins (Campbell) dec Patrick Brophy (The Citadel) Fall :30 285 lbs - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) fall Jacob Sartorio (Appalachian State) 5:40 Third Place Bouts 125 lbs - Anthony Molton (Campbell) dec Chad Bellis (Appalachian State) 14-10 133 lbs - Dyson Dunham (VMI) dec Tyson Lane (Gardner-Webb) 8-5 141 lbs - Jacob Silka (The Citadel) dec Isaac Byers (Appalachian State) 5-2 149 lbs - Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) dec Justin Rivera (Campbell) 8-4 157 lbs - Lincoln Heck (Chattanooga) maj Hayden Watson (The Citadel) 16-8 165 lbs - Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) fall Bryce Sanderlin (Davidson) 2:42 174 lbs - Lucas Uliano (Appalachian State) fall Braxton Lewis (VMI) 5:22 184 lbs - Jha’Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) maj Caleb Roe (Presbyterian) 11-0 197 lbs - Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) maj Josh Evans (VMI) 12-2 285 lbs - Ben Stemmet (The Citadel) dec Jake Fernicola (Davidson) 4-1SV True-Second Place Matches 149 lbs - Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) dec Zach Price (Gardner-Webb) 5-2 165 lbs - Dom Baker (Campbell) dec Kamdyn Munro (Chattanooga) 1-0 NCAA Qualifiers Appalachian State - Ethan Oakley (133), Cody Bond (149), Tommy Askey (157), Will Miller (165), Tomas Brooker (184) Campbell: Dom Zaccone (133), Dom Baker (165), Austin Murphy (174), Levi Hopkins (197), Taye Ghadiali (285) Chattanooga - Brayden Palmer (125), Isaiah Powe (141) The Citadel - Jeff Boyd (149) VMI - Dyson Dunham (133)

Day one of the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships in College Park, Maryland is in the books and, as always, it didn’t lack for the excitement. Saturday night’s semifinals featured several electric bouts and produced a number of first-time Big Ten finalists as well as a handful of familiar faces. Here are the top notes and quotes from what was a wild session inside the Xfinity Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. Penn State freshman Braeden Davis has sand. It’s fitting that I use a term that hasn’t been used by anyone other than your grandfather, because the Michigan native is as old school as they come. He’s tough, poised and wildly fundamentally sound for someone with fewer the 20 college matches. Davis stayed poised and took out Michigan sixth-year senior Michael DeAugustino 5-2 in sudden victory two to reach the finals against another vet, Patrick McKee of Minnesota. By the time Davis finishes the tournament, he will have faced four opponents with a combined 23 years of college wrestling experience. Chalk at 133. Who would have guessed it. The second-most volatile bracket in the tournament was a lock for chaos, until it wasn’t. Top-seeded Dylan Ragusin of Michigan showed poise in a 6-3 victory over Penn State’s Aaron Nagao, while second-seeded Dylan Shawver of Rutgers used a late takedown and three nearfall points to take out Iowa’s Brody Teske, 12-6. Will ‘The Thrill’ Lewan does it again. Yet another sixth-year senior, the Illinois native just finds a way to win matches. He’ll return to the Big Ten finals after an appearance in 2022 after knocking off Brayton Lee of Indiana, 4-1 in sudden victory. It ain’t pretty. But it doesn’t have to be. Lewan just knows how to win big matches. “I think a lot of people counted me out and were overlooking me for this tournament,” Lewan said after the match. “But I know the preparation I put in for this. And I know how much I believe in myself and my coaching and my training. So it feels great to get another shot at the Big Ten title. Who blinks first at 165? Dean Hamiti and Mitchell Mesenbrink have seemingly been on a collision course for months. Now it’s going to happen. Both set a wild pace and seemingly come forward every moment they’re on their feet. So, what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? I guess we’l find out. Ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuthhhhhh. It’s a familiar frame from Big Ten wrestling fans. But for years, it was a refrain that rung out from the stands for Penn State star Ed Ruth. No longer. Edmond Ruth, the younger brother of the three-time NCAA champion, reached his first Big Ten final for the Illinois Fighting Illini with a 4-1 victory over Andrew Sparks of Minnesota. The younger Ruth has taken a long road to this point, but he says he couldn’t be happier with where he ended up. “Going to a different school was helpful to just, at least, get myself out of my brother’s shadow,” he said after the big win. “Now I’m able to start to make my own mark. It’s hard to live up to someone with that level of fame. But, for me, I just need to get out of my own head and show people what I can do.” The Iowa Hawkeyes have had a Big Ten finalist every year since 1967. That will continue in 2024. But it wasn’t easy; The Hawks went 0-5 in their first five semifinals on Saturday night, losing heartbreakers at 133, 141 and 174 along the way. But unheralded 197-pound redshirt junior Zach Glazier kept the streak alive with a 4-1 sudden victory win over second-seeded Jaxon Smith of Maryland. Glazier, who most didn’t see coming, has been winning big matches for years now. He’s a two-time Minnesota state champion and two-time Fargo All-American. After the semifinal win, he spoke about how those big matches helped prepare him for his latest win. “You’ve got be in moments like this to prepare for future moments like this,” Glazier said. “You’ve got to figure out how to get tough and be ready for moments like that. So that’s big.”

2024 Big Ten Semifinal Results 125 lbs Patrick McKee (Minnesota) dec Dean Peterson (Rutgers) 6-3SV Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) 5-2SV 133 lbs Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Aaron Nagao (Penn State) 6-3 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Brody Teske (Iowa) 12-6 141 lbs Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Sergio Lemley (Michigan) 5-4 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) dec Real Woods (Iowa) 6-3 149 lbs Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) dec Tyler Kasak (Penn State) 4-0 Austin Gomez (Michigan) dec Ethen Miller (Maryland) 5-4 157 lbs Levi Haines (Penn State) dec Jared Franek (Iowa) 5-0 Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Brayton Lee (Indiana) 4-1SV 165 lbs Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) fall Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 1:03 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) tech Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) 23-7 174 lbs Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 4-1SV Shane Griffith (Michigan) dec Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) 4-1 184 lbs Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec Jaden Bullock (Michigan) 4-1 Bernie Truax (Penn State) dec Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) 4-2 197 lbs Aaron Brooks (Penn State) maj Silas Allred (Nebraska) 14-2 Zach Glazier (Iowa) dec Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 4-1SV 285 lbs Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) maj Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) 9-0 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) dec Lucas Davison (Michigan) 8-6

The 2024 Big Ten Tournament got underway Saturday morning from the Xfinity Center in College Park, Maryland. While top-ranked Penn State is the overwhelming favorite to claim the team title, that doesn’t mean this year’s edition is shy on storylines. Here are our top takeaways from Session I. 1) Carter Starocci Will Need An At-Large Selection For The NCAA Tournament Three-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy contender Carter Starocci’s status was in major doubt after suffering a knee injury in the final dual of the season against Edinboro. Earlier this week, head coach Cael Sanderson said that Starocci was still in “search and destroy“ mode when it came to his view of things. While Starocci showed no signs of a limp while walking into and around the Xfinity Center, he apparently was not well enough to compete on Saturday. The Penn State star took the mat for one second before injury defaulting out against eighth-seeded Andrew Sparks of Minnesota. Barring a strange twist, he’ll do the same on the back side and head to the NCAA Tournament with two losses to his record and in need of an at-large spot. He’ll almost assuredly get that spot. But where he ends up in the 174-pound bracket in Kansas City now becomes the question. 2) The 125-pound weight class remains an absolute agent of chaos It’s not exactly breaking news that the 125-pound weight class in college wrestling this year is about as crazy as they come. That extended to the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday. After all seeds held true in the opening round, an absolute bomb went off in the quarterfinals. It began with Rutgers’ Dean Peterson stunning everyone in attendance with an impressive 7-1 victory over top-seed and top-ranked Matt Ramos of Purdue. But it didn’t stop there. On the bottom side of the bracket, Michael DeAugustino of Michigan, the seventh seed, replicated his feat from earlier in the season by taking out second-seeded Drake Ayala of Iowa with a takedown in short time of the third period. Perhaps the wildest match of them all involved sixth-seeded Braeden Davis of Penn State and third-seeded Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. Barnett took an early 3-0 lead and added another point thanks to a technical violation to go up 4-0 mid-way through the first period. Davis escaped to cut it to 4-1 after 1 then used an escape and takedown to take a 5-4 lead into the third period. Once there, the wrestlers exchanged reversals, with Davis’ coming as time wound down to send the match to overtime thanks to a Barnett riding time point. Davis then got in deep on what looked like it would be the winning takedown in OT only for it to get blown dead for a technical violation by Barnett that handed the true freshman the win. The lone seed that held true in the round was Minnesota’s fourth-seeded Pat McKee, who notched a 5-2 victory over fifth-seeded Caleb Smith of Nebraska. 3) Never Count Out Will ‘The Thrill’ Lewan You don’t have to like it, but you do have to respect it! Michigan senior Will Lewan just knows how to win matches. Lewan, a two-time All-American, entered the tournament with just a 9-6 record and was the seven seed. In classic Will Lewan fashion, he won a 2-1 match in tiebreakers over Isaac Wilcox of Ohio State in the opening round. But what came next, nobody saw coming. Lewan swung for the fences and connected with a big headlock for the fall against second-seeded Michael Blockhus of Minnesota in the quarterfinals. He’ll now take on Brayton Lee of Indiana (formerly Minnesota) in the semis, and would anyone put it past him to win that match? 4) Michigan’s Strong Opening Session Puts The Wolverines In A Good Spot Is Penn State the favorite? Sure. Are they a lock? Let’s not go that far. This is perhaps the best Big Ten Tournament team the Nittany Lions have had yet under Cael Sanderson. But Penn State’s record at the conference tournament is not quite as outstanding as it is at the national tournament. So, who could dethrone the Nittany Lions? What about Michigan? The Wolverines entered the tournament looking like they’d be in a three-way battle for second with Iowa and Nebraska. While it’s early on, Michigan currently holds down the second spot with 70.5 points, 13.5 ahead of Iowa and a whopping 24.5 ahead of Nebraska. The Wolverines have eight semifinalists, with the lone exceptions coming at 165 and 197. You could argue they’ll have the favorite in five of those semifinals, with toss-ups at two others. So, why not Michigan? 5) Maybe Iowa Knew What It Was Doing All Along? Since the release of preseeds earlier this week, all the talk has been about Iowa’s apparent mistake that led to Brody Teske being seeded 14th at 133 pounds. Teske, a redshirt senior, battled for the starting job all season with teammate Cullan Schriever. By the time he’d finally won it, it was too late for Iowa to enter him into consideration for seeding. That meant that he’d likely need to beat either third-seeded Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State or the loser of a quarterfinal between Nebraska’s Jacob Van Dee and Penn State’s Aaron Nagao to secure a spot at NCAAs. No easy task! But it appears that Teske was, in fact, the bad draw. After falling behind Bouzakis 10-2 mid-way through the second period, Teske clawed his way all the way back and locked up a late cradle for a dramatic 15-13 victory. That pushed him into the quarterfinals against Purdue’s Dustin Norris, who upset sixth-seeded Anthony Madrigal of Illinois in the opening round. Teske rolled past Norris, 11-5, and now looks like a genuine threat to reach the final or, perhaps, win the whole dang thing. Score one for Tom and Terry Brands.

Big Ten Quarterfinals Results 125 lbs Dean Peterson (Rutgers) dec Matt Ramos (Purdue) 7-1 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) dec Caleb Smith (Nebraska) 5-2 Braeden Davis (Penn State) dec Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 8-7 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) dec Drake Ayala (Iowa) 4-2 133 lbs Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Tyler Wells (Minnesota) 6-2 Aaron Nagao (Penn State) dec Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) 4-3 Brody Teske (Iowa) dec Dustin Norris (Purdue) 11-5 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) dec Braxton Brown (Maryland) 8-6SV 141 lbs Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) 4-2 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) dec Brock Hardy (Nebraska) 4-1 Real Woods (Iowa) dec Tony Madrigal (Illinois) 13-9 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) fall Mitch Moore (Rutgers) 4:22 149 lbs Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) fall Graham Rooks (Indiana) 3:56 Tyler Kasak (Penn State) dec Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) 3-2 Ethen Miller (Maryland) dec Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) 7-6 Austin Gomez (Michigan) tech Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) 22-6 157 lbs Levi Haines (Penn State) maj Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) 12-0 Jared Franek (Iowa) dec Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 7-3 Brayton Lee (Indiana) dec Chase Saldate (Michigan State) 6-5 Will Lewan (Michigan) fall Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 4:24 165 lbs Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) tech Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) 17-2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) dec Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 8-5SV Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) dec Cam Amine (Michigan) 5-2SV Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) fall Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) 4:00 174 lbs Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) InjDef Carter Starocci (Penn State) Edmond Ruth (Illinois) dec Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 4-1 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) maj Jackson Turley (Rutgers) 12-2 Shane Griffith (Michigan) dec Max Maylor (Wisconsin) 6-1 184 lbs Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) dec Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 4-2 Jaden Bullock (Michigan) dec Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) 8-7 Bernie Truax (Penn State) dec Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) 7-2 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) dec Roman Rogotzke (Indiana) 14-7 197 lbs Aaron Brooks (Penn State) tech Evan Bates (Northwestern) 19-3 Silas Allred (Nebraska) dec Garrett Joles (Minnesota) 5-4 Zach Glazier (Iowa) dec Luke Geog (Ohio State) 8-2 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) dec John Poznanski (Rutgers) 8-5SV 285 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) tech Bennett Tabor (Minnesota) 15-0 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) dec Seth Nevills (Maryland) 6-1 Lucas Davison (Michigan) dec Nick Willham (Indiana) 5-0 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) InjDef Bradley Hill (Iowa)

All weekend wrestlers are competing for a chance to punch their ticket to Kansas City for a berth in the 2024 NCAA Championships. Here are the wrestlers who have qualified. This list will be updated as the results roll in: 125 ACC: Jakob Camacho (NC State) ACC: Cooper Flynn (Virginia Tech) Big 12: Noah Surtin (Missouri) Big 12: Jore Volk (Wyoming) Big 12: Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) Big 12: Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) Big 12: Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) Big Ten: Dean Peterson (Rutgers) Big Ten: Patrick McKee (Minnesota) Big Ten: Braeden Davis (Penn State) Big Ten: Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) Big Ten: Matt Ramos (Purdue) Big Ten: Drake Ayala (Iowa) Big Ten: Caleb Smith (Nebraska) Big Ten: Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) Big Ten: Tristan Lujan (Michigan State) EIWA: Luke Stanich (Lehigh) EIWA: Brett Ungar (Cornell) EIWA: Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) EIWA: Michael Joyce (Brown) EIWA: Max Gallagher (Penn) MAC: Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) MAC: Blake West (Northern Illinois) Pac-12: Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) Pac-12: Nico Provo (Stanford) SoCon: Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) 133 ACC: Kai Orine (NC State) ACC: Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) ACC: Marlon Yarbrough (Virginia) Big 12: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) Big 12: Dom Serrano (Northern Colorado) Big 12: Evan Frost (Iowa State) Big 12: Hunter Leake (California Baptist) Big 12: Jace Koelzer (Oklahoma) Big Ten: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) Big Ten: Aaron Nagao (Penn State) Big Ten: Brody Teske (Iowa) Big Ten: Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) Big Ten: Braxton Brown (Maryland) Big Ten: Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) Big Ten: Cayden Rooks (Indiana) EIWA: Vito Arujau (Cornell) EIWA: Ryan Crookham (Lehigh) EIWA: Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) EIWA: Braden Basile (Army West Point) EIWA: Max Leete (American) MAC: Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) Pac-12: Nasir Bailey (Little Rock) Pac-12: Julian Chlebove (Arizona State) Pac-12: Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) SoCon: Dom Zaccone (Campbell) SoCon: Ethan Oakley (Appalachian State) SoCon: Dyson Dunham (VMI) 141 ACC: Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) ACC: Ryan Jack (NC State) ACC: Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) Big 12: Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) Big 12: Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) Big 12: Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Josh Edmond (Missouri) Big 12: Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) Big Ten: Beau Bartlett (Penn State) Big Ten: Sergio Lemley (Michigan) Big Ten: Real Woods (Iowa) Big Ten: Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) Big Ten: Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) Big Ten: Mitch Moore (Rutgers) Big Ten: Danny Pucino (Illinois) Big Ten: Brock Hardy (Nebraska) Big Ten: Greyson Clark (Purdue) Big Ten: Danny Fongaro (Indiana) Big Ten: Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) EIWA: Josh Koderhandt (Navy) EIWA: Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) EIWA: CJ Composto (Penn) EIWA: Malyke Hines (Lehigh) MAC: Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) Pac-12: Jesse Vasquez (Arizona State) Pac-12: Cleveland Belton (Oregon State) SoCon: Isaiah Powe (Chattanooga) 149 ACC: Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) ACC: Jackson Arrington (NC State) Big 12: Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) Big 12: Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Ty Watters (West Virginia) Big 12: Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) Big 12: Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) Big 12: Logan Gioffre (Missouri) Big Ten: Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) Big Ten: Tyler Kasak (Penn State) Big Ten: Ethen Miller (Maryland) Big Ten: Austin Gomez (Michigan) Big Ten: Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) Big Ten: Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) Big Ten: Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) Big Ten: Graham Rooks (Indiana) Big Ten: Drew Roberts (Minnesota) EIWA: Jack Crook (Harvard) EIWA: Ethan Fernandez (Cornell) EIWA: Kelvin Griffin (Lehigh) EIWA: Matthew Williams (Army West Point) MAC: Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) MAC: Quinn Kinner (Rider) MAC: Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) Pac-12: Kyle Parco (Arizona State) Pac-12: Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) Pac-12: Jaden Abas (Stanford) SoCon: Cody Bond (Appalachian State) SoCon: Jeff Boyd (The Citadel) 157 ACC: Sonny Santiago (North Carolina) ACC: Ed Scott (NC State) Big 12: Jared Hill (Oklahoma) Big 12: Cody Chittum (Iowa State) Big 12: Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) Big 12: Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) Big 12: Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Brock Mauller (Missouri) Big Ten: Levi Haines (Penn State) Big Ten: Jared Franek (Iowa) Big Ten: Brayton Lee (Indiana) Big Ten: Will Lewan (Michigan) Big Ten: Joey Blaze (Purdue) Big Ten: Chase Saldate (Michigan State) Big Ten: Peyton Robb (Nebraska) Big Ten: Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) Big Ten: Isaac Wilcox (Ohio State) EIWA: Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) EIWA: Max Brignola (Lehigh) EIWA: Lucas Revano (Penn) MAC: Peyten Kellar (Ohio) MAC: DJ McGee (George Mason) MAC: Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) MAC: Nick Stampoulos (Buffalo) MAC: Colton Washleski (Rider) Pac-12: Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) Pac-12: Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) Pac-12: Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) SoCon: Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) 165 ACC: Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) ACC: Nick Hamilton (Virginia) Big 12: Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) Big 12: Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Peyton Hall (West Virginia) Big 12: David Carr (Iowa State) Big 12: Giano Petrucelli (Air Force) Big 12: Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa) Big Ten: Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) Big Ten: Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) Big Ten: Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) Big Ten: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) Big Ten: Blaine Brenner (Minnesota) Big Ten: Cam Amine (Michigan) Big Ten: Chris Moore (Illinois) Big Ten: Stoney Buell (Purdue) Big Ten: Tyler Lillard (Indiana) Big Ten: Maxx Mayfield (Northwestern) EIWA: Julian Ramirez (Cornell) EIWA: Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) EIWA: Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) EIWA: Gunner Filipowicz (Army West Point) EIWA: Jake Logan (Lehigh) MAC: Evan Maag (George Mason) Pac-12: Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) Pac-12: Hunter Garvin (Stanford) SoCon: Will Miller (Appalachian State) SoCon: Dom Baker (Campbell) 174 ACC: Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) ACC: Justin McCoy (Virginia) ACC: Tyler Eischens (North Carolina) ACC: Alex Faison (NC State) Big 12: Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) Big 12: Peyton Mocco (Missouri) Big 12: Brayden Thompson (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) Big 12: MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) Big 12: Brody Conley (West Virginia) Big Ten: Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) Big Ten: Edmond Ruth (Illinois) Big Ten: Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) Big Ten: Shane Griffith (Michigan) Big Ten: Max Maylor (Wisconsin) Big Ten: Jackson Turley (Rutgers) Big Ten: Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) Big Ten: Brody Baumann (Purdue) EIWA: Benny Baker (Cornell) EIWA: Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) EIWA: Lennox Wolak (Columbia) EIWA: Nick Incontrera (Penn) EIWA: Myles Takats (Bucknell) EIWA: Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) MAC: Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) MAC: Michael Wilson (Rider) Pac-12: Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) Pac-12: Cael Valencia (Arizona State) SoCon: Austin Murphy (Campbell) 184 ACC: TJ Stewart (Virginia Tech) ACC: Dylan Fishback (NC State) ACC: Reece Heller (Pittsburgh) ACC: Gavin Kane (North Carolina) Big 12: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) Big 12: Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Big 12: Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) Big 12: Sam Wolf (Air Force) Big 12: Colton Hawks (Missouri) Big Ten: Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) Big Ten: Jaden Bullock (Michigan) Big Ten: Bernie Truax (Penn State) Big Ten: Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) Big Ten: Brian Soldano (Rutgers) Big Ten: Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) Big Ten: Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) Big Ten: Shane Liegel (Wisconsin) EIWA: Chris Foca (Cornell) EIWA: Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) EIWA: Nate Dugan (Princeton) EIWA: James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) EIWA: Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) EIWA: David Key (Navy) MAC: Malachi DuVall (George Mason) MAC: Cam Pine (Clarion) Pac-12: Trey Munoz (Oregon State) SoCon: Tomas Brooker (Appalachian State) 197 ACC: Trent Hidlay (NC State) ACC: Max Shaw (North Carolina) ACC: Mac Stout (Pittsburgh) ACC: Krystian Kinsey (Virginia) Big 12: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) Big 12: Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) Big 12: Rocky Elam (Missouri) Big 12: Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) Big 12: Joey Novak (Wyoming) Big 12: Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) Big Ten: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) Big Ten: Silas Allred (Nebraska) Big Ten: Zach Glazier (Iowa) Big Ten: Jaxon Smith (Maryland) Big Ten: Luke Geog (Ohio State) Big Ten: Garrett Joles (Minnesota) Big Ten: John Poznanski (Rutgers) EIWA: Michael Beard (Lehigh) EIWA: Luke Stout (Princeton) EIWA: Louie DePrez (Binghamton) EIWA: Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) EIWA: Luke Stout (Princeton) EIWA: Cole Urbas (Penn) EIWA: Jack Wehmeyer (Columbia) MAC: Ben Smith (Cleveland State) MAC: Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) Pac-12: Stephen Little (Little Rock) Pac-12: Justin Rademacher (Oregon State) Pac-12: Nick Stemmet (Stanford) SoCon: Levi Hopkins (Campbell) 285 ACC: Owen Trephan (NC State) ACC: Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) Big 12: Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Big 12: Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) Big 12: Zach Elam (Missouri) Big 12: Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) Big 12: Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State) Big Ten: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) Big Ten: Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) Big Ten: Lucas Davison (Michigan) Big Ten: Nick Feldman (Ohio State) Big Ten: Nash Hutmacher (Nebraska) Big Ten: Bradley Hill (Iowa) Big Ten: Nick Willham (Indiana) EIWA: Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) EIWA: Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) EIWA: Lucas Stoddard (Army West Point) EIWA: Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) EIWA: Cory Day (Binghamton) EIWA: Grady Griess (Navy) EIWA: Keaton Kluever (Hofstra) MAC: Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) MAC: David Szuba (Rider) MAC: Jordan Greer (Ohio) Pac-12: Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) Pac-12: Boone McDermott (Oregon State) Pac-12: Josiah Hill (Little Rock) SoCon: Taye Ghadiali (Campbell)

As the conference tournaments have started and action has taken place wrestlers have clinched berths to the 2024 NCAA Championships. On the other side of the coin, there are wrestlers that we know who did not hit their qualification targets. These are the wrestlers that earned allocations for their respective conferences, yet did not earn automatic qualifying status and will be forced to rely on at-large berths. This list will be updated regularly, as needed. 125 lbs Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) Jack Maida (American) Anthony Molton (Campbell) Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 133 lbs Blake Boarman (Chattanooga) Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) Michael Colaiocco (Penn) Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) Mason Leiphart (Franklin & Marshall) Kade Moore (Missouri) Vince Santaniello (Pittsburgh) Tyler Wells (Minnesota) 141 lbs Vince Cornella (Cornell) Jack Gioffre (Virginia) Jordan Titus (West Virginia) 149 lbs Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) Alek Martin (South Dakota State) Jude Swisher (Penn) 157 lbs Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) Matt Bianchi (Little Rock) Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (Clarion) Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) 165 lbs Cael Carlson (Oklahoma) Derek Fields (NC State) Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) Garrett Thompson (Ohio) 174 lbs Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh) Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) Noah Fox (Franklin & Marshall) Sal Perrine (Ohio) Carter Starocci (Penn State) Danny Wask (Navy) 184 lbs Mikey Bartush (Bucknell) Will Feldkamp (Iowa State) Max Hale (Penn) Matt Zuber (Northern Illinois) 197 lbs Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) John Crawford (Franklin & Marshall) Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) 285 lbs Jacobi Jackson (Northern Illinois) Seth Nevills (Maryland) Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly)

The final piece of the NCAA qualification puzzle falls into place Sunday as the Pac-12 Championships matches will be conducted after the action on the East Coast concludes. This is an unusual situation as this is likely the final Pac-12 tournament as well know it. After this season, Arizona State will move to the Big 12 and the entire conference (full-time members) will move elsewhere. But that’s another story for another day. 24 allocations are on the line which is a sharp increase from the 19 that were available last year. Below are wrestlers who could be labeled as the favorites at each weight class along with one that could be a sleeper at their respective weight class. 125 Favorite: Brandon Kaylor Brandon Kaylor went 5-1 against Pac-12 opponents this season, losing to Little Rock’s Jeremiah Reno. Kaylor has the most experience out of the entire weight class, has been to multiple NCAA Championships and won a Pac-12 title. Kaylor is in a prime position to sweep his conference rivals and make a run for All-American during his senior campaign. Sleeper: Richard Figueroa Richard Figueroa missed several tournaments and duals during the beginning of the season. Therefore, Figueroa had some hiccups when he returned, holding a 7-5 record overall and 3-2 in the Pac-12. However, he recently upset two top-25 competitors and has yet to face Kaylor, making him an unpredictable matchup. Before worrying about Kaylor, Figueroa will have to contend with Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Champion Nico Provo who beat him in sudden victory in their dual meet. 133 Favorite: Nasir Bailey Little Rock’s Nasir Bailey is one of the top freshmen in the country. The top-10-ranked wrestler holds a 22-2 record, including a perfect 7-0 record against Pac-12 opponents. Five of Bailey’s seven matches in the Pac-12 have come with bonus points, making him an easy favorite for his first Pac-12 title. Sleeper: Gabe Whisenhunt Although Gabe Whisenhunt has not beaten the three ranked wrestlers above him, he can find some luck on his home mat. Five of Whisenhunt’s nine losses came by three points or less. Since he has a couple of weeks to prepare, Whisenhunt can look to stun one ranked wrestler and capture the third allocation. Whisenhunt will have the fourth seed, while #2 Zeth Romney and #3 Julian Chlebove battle it out on the bottom half of the bracket. 141 Favorite: Jesse Vasquez Jesse Vasquez has not wrestled in a Pac-12 Championship because of injuries. However, Vasquez holds an 8-1 career Pac-12 record with his one loss coming in the 2021 season. One of those wins came against Cleveland Belton during his final dual of the 2022-23 campaign. In addition, Vasquez has picked up some upsets and has yet to face several Pac-12 competitors. Sleeper: Jason Miranda Jason Miranda lost two Pac-12 matches against Vasquez and Belton. However, the rest of the Pac-12 wrestlers have a .500 record or worse. Therefore, Miranda likely represents the only chance to upset one of the top two seeds for an allocation. 149 Favorite: Kyle Parco Kyle Parco is coming off an upset against Ridge Lovett and is looking for an NCAA title. Parco won all his Pac-12 matches since transferring to Arizona State. He’ll be seeking his third Pac-12 title and fourth All-American honor. Parco’s style may not be fancy, but he limits his opponents' attacks and grinds out wins against any style wrestler. Sleeper: Chance Lamer With three allocations available, Chance Lamer should earn one quite easily. However, Lamer has a chance to stun Jaden Abas and Parco. Lamer lost to both wrestlers 4-3, while earning bonus point victories against all other Pac-12 foes. His semifinal bout with Abas should be one of the best of the round. 157 Favorite: Jacori Teemer Jacori Teemer is looking to finish his collegiate career without a blemish in Pac-12 competition. Teemer has three losses this season, two against top-10 opponents and one by injury default. Teemer has been completely dominant in-conference, winning his six Pac-12 matches this season by an average of nearly seven points. In order to go into rarified air and claim his fourth Pac-12 title, Teemer will likely have to go through a fellow conference champion in Daniel Cardenas, the two seed. Cardenas won the weight class last year while Teemer was injured. Sleeper: Legend Lamer After a stunning freshman campaign, Legend Lamer has been unable to gain any ground, going 27-18 as a sophomore and junior. However, Lamer has experience at the highest levels of postseason wrestling and has battled the top wrestlers closely. Lamer only lost to Teemer 10-7 and Matt Bianchi 4-1. Therefore, Lamer has a chance for an upset and a spot at the NCAA Championships. 165 Favorite: Joseph Bianchi Joseph Bianchi has defeated all his Pac-12 opponents this season by six or more points. Bianchi has only lost one time this year too, being pinned by Army’s Gunner Filipowicz. Since then, Bianchi has won 11 straight and will look for a good seed at the NCAA Championships. Sleeper: Chance McLane Chance McLane had a ton of success against smaller competitors when he competed at Oklahoma State. In addition, his losses against Bianchi and Hunter Garvin were in sudden victory. Therefore, McLane has a chance to slip the script and earn an allocation. During the final week of the regular season, McLane had a solid non-conference win over a past national qualifier Jake Logan of Lehigh. 174 Favorite: Adam Kemp Adam Kemp only has one loss this season that did not come from a medical forfeit. The one loss was also in sudden victory against Philip Congliaro. Therefore, Kemp’s near-perfect record makes him a strong candidate for a Pac-12 title and a chance for All-American status. Sleeper: Mason Reiniche Towards the end of the season, 2023 Pac-12 champion Matthew Olguin saw a lot of time at this weight; however, Mason Reiniche is the Beavers entry. Reiniche is 11-7 on the year, but hasn’t competed in dual meets. He does have two wins over past national qualifiers this year and could be trouble. He’s received the three seed and will have to contend with #23 Tyler Brennan of Little Rock. 184 Favorite: Trey Munoz Trey Munoz is one of the Pac-12 wrestlers with the best chance to capture an NCAA title. Munoz’s only career Pac-12 losses came against Bernie Truax. Therefore, Munoz could dominate a weight class that only has one wrestler ranked in the top-25. It doesn’t pertain to the Pac-12 Championships, but Munoz was able to defeat Truax, who has since transferred to Penn State, earlier this year. Sleeper: Jack Darrah 184 pounds is the only weight class with one allocation. Therefore, the rest of the Pac-12 wrestlers will be fighting for an at-large bid. Jack Darrah lost to Tony Negron by three points and Munoz by five points. If Darrah can beat Negron, he can make a case for an at-large bid or a chance to upset Munoz. 197 Favorite: Stephen Little Stephen Little holds an 18-2 record with a 6-0 record in the Pac-12. Four of his six conference matches ended by tech fall or pin, too. His biggest win of the season came in the second week when he defeated Maryland’s Jaxon Smith, who went on to earn the second seed at the Big Ten Championships. Little, along with Nasir Bailey, has the opportunity to win Little Rock’s first Pac-12 title. Sleeper: Nick Stemmet Nick Stemmet split two matches against Justin Rademacher this season, making the third matchup a tossup for a potential chance in the Pac-12 finals. Stemmet has only been pinned twice this season, once by Little. Therefore, he will be an underdog in a potential championship match. Yet, Stemmet has the most experience in the division and can find a way to flip the script. 285 Favorite: Cohlton Schultz Cohlton Schultz is a former NCAA runner-up and returns as one of the top heavyweights in the country. Schultz has won all five of his Pac-12 matchups this season, three by bonus points. In addition, Schultz has never lost against a Pac-12 opponent. He’s seeking his fourth Pac-12 crown and there isn’t a wrestler in this bracket who stands out as a serious threat to that honor. Sleeper: Boone McDermott Just like duals, the hometown heavyweight will have an entire crowd behind him looking to get an upset and capture an allocation. Although he was pinned by Trevor Tinker, he only lost to Schultz 5-2 and Josiah Hill 4-1. If McDermott finds himself in a close matchup, he can sway the momentum and pull off an upset. McDermott started the year on fire with a fourth-place showing at the CKLV. He’s struggled since then, but if he can channel that form from Vegas he’s capable of reversing some of those earlier losses.

125 #1 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec #5 Sean Spidle (Central Michigan) 8-6 #2 Blake West (Northern Illinois) maj #3 Tyler Klinsky (Rider) 8-0 133 #1 Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) tech #6 Tommy Maddox (Buffalo) 18-3 #2 Richie Koehler (Rider) dec #6 Pablo Castro (Kent State) 8-1 141 #1 Wyatt Henson (Lock Haven) fall #4 Eric Almarinez (SIU Edwardsville) 6:23 #2 Jacob Brya (Northern Illinois) dec #3 Jimmy Nugent (Central Michigan) 6-0 149 #1 Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) dec #4 Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) 4-3 #2 Quinn Kinner (Rider) dec Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) 8-5 157 #1 Peyten Kellar (Ohio) fall Nick Stampoulos (Buffalo) 3:59 #2 DJ McGee (George Mason) dec #3 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 4-3 165 #1 Garrett Thompson (Ohio) dec #4 Caden Dobbins (Bloomsburg) 5-0 #3 Evan Maag (George Mason) dec Tyler Swiderski (Central Michigan) 5-3 174 #1 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) maj #5 John Worthing (Clarion) 11-0 #3 Michael Wilson (Rider) dec #2 Sal Perrine (Ohio) 7-6TB 184 #1 Cam Pine (Clarion) dec #4 Chase Kranitz (Buffalo) 13-8 #6 Malachi DuVall (George Mason) fall #7 Deron Pulliam (SIU Edwardsville) 4:15 197 #1 Sam Mitchell (Buffalo) maj #4 Cameron Wood (Central Michigan) 9-1 #2 Ben Smith (Cleveland State) dec #3 Blake Schaffer (Kent State) 8-3 285 #1 Daniel Bucknavich (Cleveland State) maj Bryan Caves (Central Michigan) 13-0 #2 David Szuba (Rider) maj Jordan Greer (Ohio) 13-1 Team Scores 1. Central Michigan 97.5 2. Rider 91 3. George Mason 84.5 4. Lock Haven 67.5 5. Buffalo 62 5. Northern Illinois 62

Day 1 of the 120th EIWA Championships wrapped up at Bucknell University. The first whistle blew at 10:30AM and the action continued all day until roughly 9PM. The Cornell Big Red lead the team race with 91.5 team points and 9 semifinalists. Lehigh is currently in second place with 80.5 team points and six semifinalists. The Quakers of Penn and Black Knights of Army West Point are tied for third place with 62.5 points each. Army has six semi-finalists while Penn has four. Columbia rounds out the top 5 with 51 points. Key Takeaways: The biggest upset of the day came from Cornell’s Benny Baker at 174lbs. He defeated top-seed, and 7th ranked nationally, Phil Conigliaro of Harvard. Three former EIWA Champions took a loss in the quarterfinals. Vince Cornella of Cornella (141lbs), Phil Conigliaro of Harvard (174lbs), and Grady Griess of Navy (285lbs) Columbia’s Andrew Garr will finish in the top-8 as the 17th seed. 20 of the 53 automatic bids have been clinched already For all results, see link here 2024 EIWA Results 125 (5 Automatic Bids) The only upset, on paper, in the first round came at the hands of Binghamton’s Carson Wagner. The true freshmen took out 6th seeded, Nick Babin of Columbia 11-9. Babin was 5th last season, which earned him a trip to NCAAs. Besides that, all seeds went scratch into the quarters. The higher seed won all matches except the toss-up four versus five match-up in the quarter final. Ethan Berginc of Army prevailed over American’s Jack Maida. With the top five automatically advancing to NCAAs, the semifinalists need to win one more match to advance. Something to note is that Columbia’s Nick Babin failed to make the podium this time around. Semifinals Luke Stanich, Lehigh vs. (5) Ethan Berginc, Army Brett Ungar, Cornell vs. (3) Diego Sotelo, Harvard Consolation Matches (7) Max Gallagher, Penn vs. (13) Robbie Sagaris, LIU (4) Jack Maida, American vs. (10) Michael Joyce, Brown 133 (5 Automatic Bids) The first round matchup between eighth seed Micah Roes, of Binghamton, and Drexel’s ninth seeded, John Hildebrant was won by Hildebrant via fall. American’s Max Leete was the winner over Brendan Ferretti of Navy. Leete’s 10th seed makes this an upset over Ferretti – who was an NCAA qualifier last season after a 4th place EIWA finish. The quarter finals had an upset win when Braden Basile of Army came in as the 6th seed to beat Penn’s 3rd seed, Michael Colaiocco, by major decision late in the match. Kurt Phipps got the home crowd into the action with a 6-3 win after trailing 3-0 to begin the 3rd period. The consolation rounds had many upsets with Brown’s 15th seed, Hunter Adrian, defeating 5th seed Mason Leiphart of F&M. Andrew Fallon of Sacred Heart was the 11th seed and beat 9th seed Hildebrandt of Drexel. Micah Rose earned a win over Penn’s Michael Colaiocco. Colaiocco is a multiple time NCAA qualifier who will need an at-large bid. Leiphart will also need some help with an at-large bid. Semifinals Ryan Crookham, Lehigh vs. (4) Kurt Phipps, Bucknell Vito Arujau, Cornell vs. (6) Braden Basile, Army Consolation Matches (15) Hunter Adrian, Brown vs. (11) Andrew Fallon, Sacred Heart (10) Max Leete, American vs. (8) Micah Roes, Binghamton 141 (4 Automatic Bids) The first round went as planned per the seeds, except in one match. Nate Lucier of Binghamton was the 11th seed and beat his 6th seeded opponent Devin Matthews of LIU. In the quarters, we saw Bucknell’s 7th seeded wrestler in Dylan Chappell defeat the returning EIWA champ from Cornell in Vince Cornella. Hines of Lehigh had a major, which was the only bonus victory of the round at this weight. Besides, Chappell’s win this bracket has not had many upsets so far. Vince Cornella was forced to medical forfeit in the consolation bracket. He will need an at-large selection to compete at NCAAs. Semifinals (1) Josh Koderhandt, Navy vs. (4) CJ Composto, Penn (7) Dylan Chappell, Bucknell vs. (3) Malyke Hines, Lehigh Consolation Matches (5) Kai Owen, Columbia vs. (8) Pat Phillips, F&M (12) Tyler Vasquez, Princeton vs. (11) Nate Lucier, Binghamton 149 (4 Automatic Bids) The first round had an incredibly tight one between Dom Findora of Drexel and Noah Tapia of Hofstra in a 9th vs 8th seeded battle. Findora used a last second takedown to win. We saw 10th seed Drew Witham of LIU defeat Navy’s Kaemen Smith, the 7th seed. The quarterfinals included a tech fall from top-seed Ethan Fernandez of Cornell, and a major decision by Penn’s Jude Swisher. Harvard’s Jack Crook (6th seed) came away with a victory over 3rd seed, Kelvin Griffin of Lehigh. The wrestlers in the wrestle backs will need to make the third place match. Semifinals Ethan Fernandez, Cornell vs. (4) Jude Swisher, Penn Matt Williams, Army vs. (6) Jack Crook, Harvard Consolation Matches (5) Eligh Rivera, Princeton vs. (9) Dom Findora, Drexel (12) Richard Fedalen, Columbia vs. (3) Kelvin Griffin, Lehigh 157 (3 Automatic Bids) The only upset in the first round came from Drexel’s Tyler Williams. The 11th seed knocked off Hofstra’s 6th seeded Jurius Clark. Top-seed Meyer Shapiro of Cornell and 3rd seed Max Brignola of Lehigh each won by tech fall in the quarter finals. The top four seeds all made the semi finals here, as expected. A fun tidbit is that 17th seeded, Andrew Garr of Columbia, will be placing top-8. He was a last minute addition a day or two ago. LIU’s 13th seed Rhise Royster will be in the top-8 also. Semifinals Meyer Shapiro, Cornell vs. (4) Nate Lukez, Army Lucas Revano, Penn vs. (3) Max Brignola, Lehigh Consolation Matches (5) Blake Saito, Brown vs. (6) Jurius Clark, Hofstra (13) Rhise Royster, LIU vs. (17) Andy Garr, Columbia 165 (5 Automatic Bids) The first round of this weight class had two lower seeds come away victorious. 12th seed Blaine Bergey of Princeton defeated Gunner Filipowicz of Army (5th seed). In the bottom half, Kyle Mosher of Columbia (10th seed) won over Lehigh’s 7th seed, Jake Logan. The quarterfinals were all dominated by the higher seed. There were not many upsets in the consolations either, as the seeds held very nicely. Semifinals Julian Ramirez, Cornell vs. (4) Noah Mulvaney, Bucknell Brevin Cassella, Binghamton vs. (3) Andrew Cerniglia, Navy Consolation Matches (7) Jake Logan, Lehigh vs. (9) Cael Berg, Harvard (5) Gunner Filipowicz, Army vs. (6) Cody Walsh, Drexel 174 (6 Automatic Bids) This bracket was full of upsets. In the opening round, 11th seed Dimitri Gamkrelidze of Binghamton had a win over the 6th seeded F&M wrestler in Noah Fox. The biggest upset of the tournament happened in the quarterfinals when Cornell’s 8th seeded, Benny Baker, knocked off top-seeded Phil Conigliaro on a last second takedown. Conigliaro came into the weekend ranked in 7th in the nation. This is a huge factor in the team race for Cornell. Also, Baker (along with all semifinalists) clinched an NCAA berth. Gamkrelidze is the lone double-digit seed left. Semifinals (8) Benny Baker, Cornell vs. (4) Ben Pasiuk, Army (2) Nick Incontrera, Penn vs. (3) Lennox Wolak, Columbia Consolation Matches (5) Danny Wask, Navy vs. (1) Phil Conigliaro, Harvard (7) Myles Takats, Bucknell vs. (11) Dimitri Gamkrelidze 184 (7 Automatic Bids) The first round did not have many upsets at all. The only victory that would qualify as an upset was 10th seeded Anthony D’Alesio’s win over Bucknell’s Mikey Bartush – who was 7th seed. Aaron Ayzerov was the 5th seed from Columbia. He defeated Penn’s Max Hale, who came in as the 5th seed. Besides the mentioned matches, all other seeds won accordingly. Ayzerov will face Foca for a 3rd time this season – looking to win for the third time. Anthony D’Alesio will need to win one more match to qualify for NCAAs. He would be the first for LIU at the D1 level. Semifinals Chris Foca, Cornell vs. (5) Aaron Ayzerov, Columbia James Conway, Franklin & (3) Marshall vs. Nate Dugan, Princeton Consolation Matches (4) Max Hale, Penn vs. (8) David Key, Navy (10) Anthony D’Alesio, LIU vs. (6) Jacon Nolan, Binghamton 197 (6 Automatic Bids) This bracket has been a rare one where every higher seed won over the lower-seeded opponent. The top four seeds are cruising, winning all matches with bonus points thus far. All four semifinalists have already clinched a spot to NCAAs. The consolation rounds include the 5 through 8 seeds. This is a unique situation where the seeds were very accurate. Semifinals Michael Beard, Lehigh vs. (4) Luke Stout, Princeton Jacob Cardenas, Cornell vs. (3) Lou Deprez, Binghamton Consolation Matches (5) Cole Urbas, Penn vs. (8) Logan Deacetis, Bucknell (6) John Crawford, F&M vs. (7) Jack Wehmeyer, Columbia 285 (8 Automatic Bids) In the first round, the higher seeds came away unscathed. The quarterfinal round is where things got a little interesting. Bucknell’s 7th seed, Dorian Crosby, upset the 2nd seed in Cory Day of Binghamton. Reversing regular season losses were Cornell’s Lewis Fernandes over Keaton Kluever of Hofstra and Lucas Stoddard of Army over Navy’s Grady Griess – last year’s EIWA champion. Lewis is the 5th seed, while Stoddard is the 6th seed. All wrestlers alive in the tournament automatically qualify for nationals, as the weight class has eight bids. This is another weight class with the top 8 still alive. Semifinals Nathan Taylor, Lehigh vs. (5) Lewis Fernandes, Cornell (7) Dorian Crosby, Bucknell vs (6) Lucas Stoddard, Army Consolation Matches (4) Keaton Kluever, Hofstra vs. (8) Matt Cover, Princeton (2) Cory Day, Binghamton vs. (3) Grady Griess, Navy Because this weight class qualifies all eight podium placewinners, there will be a four-man bracket for 9th place. The 9th place finisher will be used for at-large considerations earlier this week after all conference tournaments are completed. 9th Place Match-Ups (10) William Jarrell, American vs. (14) Santino Marina, Drexel (9) John Stout, Penn vs. (12) Alex Semenenko, Brown Below is a list of wrestlers who have clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament after Day 1. 174 Benny Baker (Cornell) Nick Incontrera (Pennsylvania) Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) Lennox Wolak (Columbia) 184 Aaron Ayzerov (Columbia) James Conway (Franklin & Marshall) Nate Dugan (Princeton) Chris Foca (Cornell) 197 Michael Beard (Lehigh) Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) Lou Deprez (Binghamton) Luke Stout (Princeton) 285 Matt Cover (Princeton) Dorian Crosby (Bucknell) Cory Day (Binghamton) Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) Grady Griess (Navy) Keaton Kluever (Hofstra) Lucas Stoddard (Army West Point) Nathan Taylor (Lehigh)

It’s time to head up the mountain this week, back to Boone, North Carolina for yet another Southern Conference Championship. The Camels were crowned the regular season Conference Champions - with an undefeated 8-0 record, after posting up a 40-0 shut-out against VMI on the final weekend of the regular season. Campbell and Appalachian State finished the season in InterMat’s rankings at #22 and #28, respectively, while the final NWCA poll had the two ranked at #22 and #24 - the Camels and the Mountaineers sending off the season with top-25 rankings. Now let’s talk about these allocations: there are 14 - FOURTEEN - total for the Southern Conference. Let’s not forget the 47 at-large bids that will be up for grabs after the weekend has concluded. Get your calculators out, because we’re about to do some math (or try to, at least), and let’s see what’s in store for the weekend. 2024 Southern Conference Pre-Allocations and At-Large Bids 125 This weight was kind of turned upside-down at the end of November when Brayden Palmer’s (UTC) redshirt was pulled following a season-ending injury for Logan Ashton, putting him in the starting lineup at a new weight class. Palmer, with a 5-1 conference record, his lone loss from App State’s Chad Bellis. Now Campbell’s Anthony Molton appears to have had an undefeated conference schedule. After reviewing the stats from his season, I noticed that Molton v Palmer didn’t occur in this year’s conference dual series - Zander Phaturos (CAMP) was the starter for that dual. Chad Bellis (APP) has wrestled a full conference season, ending with a 7-1 record. His lone loss of the season was to Molton via tech fall, but defeated Palmer by a 10-0 major decision. That will give him the second seed. These three seem to be the top contenders in the weight, but despite Molton and Palmer finishing the season in the Coaches’ Rankings, there is only one pre-allocation for the weight. Expect a dog fight, and expect some tough wrestling. (shameless plug). Seeds: Anthony Molton - Campbell Chad Bellis - App State Brayden Palmer - Chattanooga Drew West - Gardner- Webb Malik Hardy - The Citadel Tony Burke - Virginia Military Institute Enis Ljikovic - Davidson Trenton Dominguez - Presbyterian 133 Another weight with three top contenders in its class, 133 lbs earned three allocations for the NCAA tournament - meaning the top three placements will head to Kansas City. Campbell, App State, and Chattanooga all deliver the top three seeds - Domenic Zaccone, Ethan Oakley, and Blake Boarman. Zaccone zipped through the season with one loss against Oakley, and 9 tech fall victories in dual competition - putting him at the #8 slot in the national leaderboard for technical falls. App State’s Oakley topped off the season 6-1, his only loss was against UTC’s Boarman. Boarman finished his season with a 6-2 record, his losses from Zaccone and the weight’s darkhorse - Dyson Dunham (VMI). Dunham ended the season with a 5-3 record, his losses coming from Rosas (CIT), Lane (GWU), and Zaccone (CAMP). Maybe we’ll see Dunham and Oakley meet during the tournament for a sizzling semifinal match. Seeds Domenic Zaccone - CAMP Ethan Oakley - APP Blake Boarman - UTC Tyson Lane - GWU Dyson Dunham - VMI George Rosas - CIT Hale Robinson - DAV Brayden Adams - PRES 141 Earning one pre-allocation, Isaiah Powe (UTC) ended the season in a POWErful way (haha see what I did there), undefeated in SoCon Competition (8-0). I see him earning the top seed for the weight class and Ike Byers (APP) with the #3-seed. Byers ended the season 6-1, his lone loss from Powe. But a sleeper? Wynton Denkins (CAMP). A true freshman who started in five conference duals, resulting in a 4-1 record - his lone loss against UTC’s Powe. Gardner Webb’s Todd Carter comes in as the second-seed for the tournament - we’ll likely see a Byers/Carter semifinal, which would be their first time facing off in conference competition. Seeds Isaiah Powe - UTC Todd Carter - GWU Ike Byers - APP Jacob Silka - CIT Wynton Denkins - CAMP Patrick Jordon - VMI Josh Viarengo - DAV Ryan Luna - PRES 149 This weight has everything: a seventh-year senior, a world team member, and a grad school transfer. Cody Bond (APP) ended the season undefeated in conference action. Noah Castillo (UTC) also had an unscathed conference record, though he started only two of the conference dual meets. Notably, he also was a world team member for Puerto Rico. The Citadel’s grad transfer from WVU Jeff Boyd is coming into the tournament with the #2-seed. Boyd’s top win this season was over Campbell’s Justin Rivera. This weight has two allocations, so likely it’ll be wrestled first with 165 to determine whether or not there will be a wrestle-off for “true second” or the NCAA-qualifying slot. These feel like some of the most nerve-wracking experiences to watch during finals. Seeing the joy and relief of being finished with wrestling versus the disappointment of defeat coupled with recovering to get back on the mat and get the job done. Anyway - we’ll see 149 and 165 wrestle first (and possibly last) for finals. Seeds Cody Bond - APP Jeff Boyd - CIT Noah Castillo - UTC Justin Rivera - CAMP Zach Price - GWU Ryan Vigil - VMI Tyler-Xavier McKnight - DAV Trenton Donahue - PRES 157 Another weight, another world team member. Tanner Peake comes in as the #2 seed this year, after being Davidson’s first finalist in four years as a true freshman. He represented Puerto Rico as well on the U23 team, making him the third SoCon wrestler to be a world team member this season (shout out to Shannon Hanna with Team Bahamas and Mr. Blue and Yellow aka Dre Simon). App State’s Tommy Askey boasted a 7-0 conference record. I imagine we see an Askey/Peake final, with the potential for an at-large bid to be earned at this weight. Seeds Tommy Askey - APP Tanner Peake - DAV Chris Earnest - CAMP Hayden Watson - CIT Lincoln Heck - UTC Tyler Brignola - GWU Eli Holiday - PRES Josh Yost - VMI 165 I’ve noticed not all starters listed for the tournament have wrestled the full conference schedule, but 165 is a special case. The top seed, Will Miller (APP) had an undefeated conference schedule (8-0, including Bellarmine). Miller and the #2-seed Dom Baker (CAMP) are familiar competitors, their last meeting ending with an 8-2 decision in Miller’s favor in Buies Creek. #3-seeded Ben Haubert will likely end up in the semis against Miller as well, they last wrestled in Boone where Miller garnered an 8-0 major decision victory. This weight has two allocations - which means a true second-place match could occur. (See the explanation in 149). Seeds Will Miller - APP Dom Baker - CAMP Ben Haubert - CIT Bryce Sanderlin - DAV Kamdyn Munro - UTC Andrew Wilson - GWU Michael Ramirez - PRES Caleb Chandler - VMI 174 Austin Murphy (CAMP) made a triumphant return this season after not competing for the ‘22-’23 season, finishing the season undefeated and ranked top-25 between InterMat’s and the Coaches’ Rankings. VMI’s Braxton Lewis takes the second seed, followed by Desiante (UTC) and Uliano (APP). Lewis has a win over Desiante under his belt, and has not wrestled against Uliano this season. Murphy and Desiante, however, have wins over Uliano. This bracket will be a fun one to watch - and I’ve [finally] realized that next season I think I’ll have to make a starter stat tracker…or something like that. From here through heavyweight, there is only one allocation for each weight left. Seeds Austin Murphy - CAMP Braxton Lewis - VMI Sergio Desiante - UTC Luke Uliano - APP Brodie Porter - CIT Marc Koch - DAV Sam Mora - GWU Brandon Jacoby - PRES 184 Honestly, I’m a little surprised there weren’t two allocations for 184 - both Hopkins (CAMP) and Anderson (GWU) have had really strong showings this season; when the two met in Buies Creek last month, Hopkins scored a narrow 1-0 victory over Anderson, earning an escape at the beginning of the second period of their bout. Matches that close sometimes show just how tough the competitors are - and I’m really looking forward to this rematch in the finals (fingers crossed). Anderson made history for the Runnin’ Bulldogs this season, after he became the program’s first Southern Scuffle Champion. Freshman Tomas Brooker (APP) has made a splash this season, finishing the season 6-2 in SoCon competition, only recording losses to Anderson and Hopkins. Seeds Caleb Hopkins - CAMP Jha’Quan Anderson - GWU Tomas Brooker - APP Wyatt Ferguson - DAV Adam Ortega - CIT Tyler Schoffstall - VMI Caleb Roe - PRES Jackson Hurst - UTC 197 Another weight where I felt that the conference deserved two allocations…but I’m also incredibly pro-SoCon. Anyway - Hopkins is a returning Southern Conference Champion, who ended the season top-ten in the country in falls this season along with another undefeated record. Hopkins defeated #2-seed Carson Floyd (APP) by a 7-2 decision, and Floyd beat the #3 seed, Brophy (CIT). Seeds Levi Hopkins - CAMP Carson Floyd - APP Patrick Brophy - CIT Josh McCutcheon - GWU David Harper - UTC Cameo Blankenship - DAV Josh Evans - VMI George Hopkins - PRES 285 Heavyweight has the highest-ranked wrestler in the conference: Taye Ghadiali (CAMP). Ghadiali also finished the season undefeated, the 10th most dominant wrestler in the NCAA, ranked 5th in falls, and 10th in tech falls. The odds are high that Ghadiali will make the podium this year in Kansas City, but let’s also talk about the rest of the bracket. Second-seed Jacob Sartorio (APP) finished the season 5-2, his losses from Ghadiali and Thad Huff (BU, injury default). Seeds Taye Ghadiali - CAMP Jacob Sartorio - APP Ben Stemmet - CIT Jake Fernicola - DAV Tyler Mousaw - VMI Kaleb Snodgrass - UTC Peyton McComas - GWU Morvens Saint-Jean - PRES I can’t wait to see y’all this weekend - if you’re coming to Boone, don’t be shy, come say hi! xoxo

It’s the greatest weekend in college wrestling and you have a lot to do so I won’t even waste time here. Plenty of questions so let’s jump right in! What are the minimum wrestlers PSU could use and still win the Big Ten? Could they win with only seven guys if they wanted to? (133,141,157,165,184,197,285) Dabreadyi They have a hard enough winning the conference tournament with a full squad. I swear it’s like Memphis Raines trying to steal Eleanor. Something always goes wrong. Ok, maybe not always, but it is oddly a thing. But I doubt we see an issue this year even if Starocci can’t go. But yeah, I could see just that seven being enough if you get five champs out of it. Should I change out of my tournament khakis for the SoCon finals? Rachel Gallardo, SoCon correspondent Of course, you should! Khakis are your work clothes and you’re putting in a day’s work covering the matches. The finals is an event and should be treated like the Met Gala. Personally, I like to look as haggard as possible on most days so it’s a bigger surprise when I have to style it up. I tend to get told I clean up well a lot. And have fun! Tell Levi Hopkins I need a title for my fantasy team! Tips for someone attending their first conference tournament! Morgan Hackney I don’t know, I‘ve never been to one! But apparently, khakis are the ideal fit for such a long day. And much like our girl Rachel at the SoCon, the InterMat honeymooners of Morgan and James Hackney have you covered on all things Big 12, so go check them out. The Rolling Stones also recently put out an album called Hackney Diamonds which has nothing to do with this at all, but I’m just stalling until the next question. Tell Troy Spratley I need a title for my fantasy team! We all know #JaggerVision is going to be up all weekend, but what is the setup looking like? How do you decide what goes on the center screen? Fantasy Championship Wrestling For tourney season it’s all about economy and utilizing your space so the biggest screen gets a quad box. Most likely I’ll go with the B12 there and spread the B10 mats across the other four screens. Then I’ll throw what’s left on the computer and tablet devices for quick access when there’s a match I want to see. The start times are all staggered quite nicely where you don’t get overwhelmed by everything at once. The ACC being only on Sunday is a big help and fills the gaps between medal rounds. In total, I can probably get about 16 mats running at once> Will I watch all 16? I doubt it. Will I stare at my phone the entire time and miss all the action? There’s a high probability of that. Who are the most Jersey representatives in each conference that we should watch for? Kevin Claunch Hmm, let me go take a look. The EIWA is loaded with Jersey guys because we’re all Ivy-level brains over here. Certainly, all eyes will be on Luke Stanich and if he can continue his superb true freshman season. Likely an all-Jersey final with Ungar if the seeds hold true. Joey Zargo has had a solid year for Wisconsin and has a chance to finish above his seed at 149 in the Big Ten as the field is pretty open after Lovett and Gomez. The ACC seems to have Vincent Santaniello as our only rep besides the great Mekhi Lewis. I’m also claiming Trent Hidlay because he has family here and we have the best sandwiches. It’s a natural fit. But wait! We’ve also got Dylan Cedeno out there for my man Steve Garland in Virginia! The Big 12 seems to be severely lacking Jersey guys and that makes sense since we don’t like to be landlocked. In the MAC, I’d like to see Quinn Kinner finish strong and not get Munson’d in the middle of nowhere. What is the non-Big Ten weight that Jagger is most looking forward to during the conference tournament weekend? Rhino Easily 141, at the ACC tournament. Check out Robbie Wendell’s preview for more but you have four guys and can win or lose to each other on any given night. It should be interesting. Who is Jagger picking to win each of the seven conference tournaments? Dan Seifring All 70 weights or the seven team champs? It doesn’t matter because I simply don’t have an answer for you. Have you seen my record in the picks contest? The idea that someone pays for my expertise is baffling. Jags, my charming friend, with U Jamestown leaving the NAIA for the NCAA, the NAIA Women’s Tournament (where the headgear is optional but the thrills are not) needs a new home. Where in the best wrestling state would you put the best college freestyle tournament? Salty Walkon Marietta, Georgia seems like the right fit if you ask me. We need more southern exposure and Life U has earned the right to host with the success they’ve had over the years. Earl has noted how much he enjoyed the WCWA tournament when it was run by Life back in the day. From my wife: "What will Jagger do for questions when you have to go back to work?" Burger King of Kings Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can’t leave now. It’s about to enter the slow period and I need content. You could even get an entire mailbag all to yourself at some point. Keep those questions in drafts for future use. Did the Ivy League make a mistake breaking away from the EIWA? Mike Abromitis I don’t think so. But it will take time to know for sure. I only hope it leads to all the Ivy schools fielding a team, but I know that’s wishful thinking. Well, that’s it. Get your affairs in order and get your screens up. The postseason is here which is a bit sad since it means the end of the season is near. Don’t forget to check the streaming guide for start times!

We've all four guys back and ready to jump into the conference tournaments. They discuss some seeding/allocation notes, the deepest weights at their respective conferences, wrestlers who are x-factors or wild cards and more

It’s the big one! Actually the Big Ten. The constant in the college wrestling world is that the Big Ten rules the roost. 2023-24 is no difference as the Big Ten has earned 85 automatic qualifying bids at the 2024 NCAA Championships. Surely they’ll add a few others during the at-large process, as well. The 2024 Big Ten Championships head to the East Coast and will be hosted by the University of Maryland for the first time since the school joined the conference prior to the 2014-15 school year. The resurgent host school has a second seed, along with three others seeded in the top-seven at their respective weights, three years after scoring only two points in the 2021 tournament. As expected all year, Penn State comes into the tournament as a heavy favorite. Cael Sanderson’s team has five top seeds and only one wrestler seeded below fifth. The Nittany Lions just finished their fourth straight undefeated season and only gave up more than ten points in a dual on one occasion. That begs the question, who finishes second? At times, Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska all looked like they were capable of doing so. Both Michigan and Nebraska have a number-one seed. Penn State won the 2023 title, but Michigan and Iowa have accounted for the previous two conference titles. Individually, there are seven past Big Ten champions set to compete. Two are in one weight class (197), while one wrestler is going for his third B1G title (Carter Starocci) and another is going for his fourth (Aaron Brooks). Without any more introductions the conference that doesn’t need any introductions. It’s the Big Ten preview. Analysis for each weight and top-eight finishers and more. 125 lbs 1. Matt Ramos (PUR) 2. Drake Ayala (IOWA) 3. Eric Barnett (WIS) 4. Patrick McKee (MINN) 5. Caleb Smith (NEB) 6. Braeden Davis (PSU) 7. Michael DeAugustino (MICH) 8. Brendan McCrone (OSU) 9. Dean Peterson (RUT) 10. Tristan Lujan (MSU) 11. Justin Cardani (ILL) 12. Massey Odiotti (NU) 13. Tommy Capul (MD) 14. Blaine Frazier (IND) NCAA Allocations: (9) First Round Match to Watch: #8 Brendon McCrone (Ohio State) vs. #9 Dean Peterson Projected Semifinals: #1 Matt Ramos (Purdue) vs. #4 Patrick McKee (Minnesota); #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. #6 Braeden Davis (Penn State) It’s the weight class we’ve been talking about all year! And generally, we have it going chalk, that can’t be right. Can it? Do the upsets happen if we’re expecting them? Or only if they’re unforeseen. But seriously, top-ranked Matt Ramos is seeking to become Purdue’s first Big Ten champion since Ryan Lange in 2004. Ramos was third last year before his remarkable NCAA finals run. In a weird coincidence, but appropriate for this bracket, Ramos and second-seeded Drake Ayala could face opponents who have defeated them already this season before the finals. Ramos has a loss to Caleb Smith, while Ayala’s likely quarterfinal opponent, Michael DeAugustino, defeated him in tiebreakers. Two of the veterans in this weight class could shake things up in Eric Barnett and Patrick McKee. Though he’s a two-time All-American, McKee has only finished higher than sixth at this tournament once - and on that occasion, he lost in the opening round. Barnett is the only wrestler in this bracket who has wrestled in a Big Ten final. Somewhere along the way, we need another matchup between these two. They’ve already met 11 times in their illustrious careers. Perhaps one of the more exciting matches to watch in this bracket is Barnett versus Penn State freshman Braeden Davis. The two did not meet during the regular season. Should Davis pull the slight upset, he could get another crack at Ayala. On a neutral mat, I’d give the freshman a very slight edge. Predictions 1st: Matt Ramos (Purdue) over Braeden Davis (Penn State) 3rd: Drake Ayala (Iowa) over Patrick McKee (Minnesota) 5th: Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) over Caleb Smith (Nebraska) 7th: Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) over Dean Peterson (Rutgers) 133 lbs 1. Dylan Ragusin (MICH) 2. Dylan Shawver (RUT) 3. Nic Bouzakis (OSU) 4. Jacob Van Dee (NEB) 5. Aaron Nagao (PSU) 6. Tony Madrigal (ILL) 7. Braxton Brown (MD) 8. Tyler Wells (MINN) 9. Nicolar Rivera (WIS) 10. Cayden Rooks (IND) 11. Dustin Norris (PUR) 12. Andrew Hampton (MSU) 13. Patrick Adams (NU) 14. Brody Teske (IOWA) NCAA Allocations: (7) First Round Match to Watch: #3 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) vs. #4 Brody Teske (Iowa) Projected Semifinals: #1 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) vs. #5 Aaron Nagao (Penn State); #2 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) vs. #3 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) It’s been discussed ad nauseum already, so we’ll just give it a quick mention. The first-round matchup between Nic Bouzakis and Brody Teske probably should have been a quarterfinal match, but isn’t because Teske was noted as the starter after the conference deadline. That creates a very tough bout for Bouzakis right off the bat and gives Teske a very tough path to the top-seven and automatic qualifier status. With graduations and weight changes, this feels like a very different weight class from years past. Aaron Nagao was a Big Ten finalist for Minnesota last year, but most others in the field have not had high finishes. One of those who has is Dylan Ragusin who was fifth and third in each of the past two years. Ragusin made it into February before suffering his first loss of the year - to Jacob Van Dee. Since no one in the conference was unbeaten and Ragusin still has an extensive list of quality wins, he gets the top seed. On the other half of the bracket is Dylan Shawver, who is the highest-seeded Rutgers grappler this year. Shawver locked up the second seed with three big wins down the home stretch over Nic Bouzakis, Aaron Nagao, and Braxton Brown. To wrestle up to his seed, Shawver may need to replicate the wins over Brown and Bouzakis in the quarters and semis, respectively. Predictions 1st: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) over Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State) 3rd: Aaron Nagao (Penn State) over Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) 5th: Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska) over Braxton Brown (Maryland) 7th: Tony Madrigal (Illinois) over Tyler Wells (Minnesota) 141 lbs 1. Beau Bartlett (PSU) 2. Jesse Mendez (OSU) 3. Real Woods (IOWA) 4. Brock Hardy (NEB) 5. Sergio Lemley (MICH) 6. Danny Pucino (ILL) 7. Mitch Moore (RUT) 8. Jordan Hamdan (MSU) T9. Dan Fongaro (IND) T9. Vance VomBaur (MINN) 11. Kal Miller (MD) 12. Greyson Clark (PUR) 13. Kolby McClain (NU) 14. Felix Lettini (WIS) NCAA Allocations: (11) First Round Match to Watch: #6 Danny Pucino (Illinois) vs. #11 Kal Miller Projected Semifinals: #1 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. #5 Sergio Lemley (Michigan); #3 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. #2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) This is a beast of a weight class with 11 NCAA spots available, which is the most out of any weight class in any qualifying tournament. There are actually 12 Big Ten wrestlers currently in the national rankings, so there’s a chance that the conference even gets one or two more depending on what happens in College Park and around the country. It’s rare that you have both Big Ten finalists returning, at the same weight class, and neither comes in as the number one or number two seed. But, it’s the Big Ten - sometimes that’s all that needs to be said. Last year, Beau Bartlett got on the NCAA podium for the first time at his ideal weight class. This year, he’s taken it to another level and comes in unbeaten. There have been times when his offense has opened up against tough competition, but he’ll still have a few close matches that leave him vulnerable to an upset. Coming in at the second seed is Jesse Mendez who held that distinction last year at 133 lbs. Mendez moved up and has been even better than his true freshman season. He emerged victorious in a Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational weight class that featured some of the key players here and from around the nation. One of the most anticipated bouts of this tournament could take place in the semifinals, when Mendez squares off with returning champion Real Woods. Since Iowa and Ohio State did not wrestle this season, these two do not have any collegiate history. One of the better potential quarterfinals to monitor is the #4/#5 match with 2023 Big Ten runner-up Brock Hardy and true freshman Sergio Lemley. The two had a classic, back-and-forth battle in Lincoln before Hardy came out on top. Lemley is your typical talented true freshman who may have taken his lumps in November and December, but seems to be coming into form when it counts. The whole bottom half of this weight class is a mess, which is evident by the fact that the preseeds couldn’t determine who should get the #9, between Dan Fongaro and Vance Vombaur. Anyone between the sixth and 12th seed can, and probably will, beat up on each other. It’s one of those weights where it’s an upset in number only. Predictions 1st: Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) over Beau Bartlett (Penn State) 3rd: Real Woods (Iowa) over Sergio Lemley (Michigan) 5th: Brock Hardy (Nebraska) over Danny Pucino (Illinois) 7th: Mitch Moore (Rutgers) over Vance Vombaur (Minnesota) 149 lbs 1. Ridge Lovett (NEB) 2. Austin Gomez (MICH) 3. Caleb Rathjen (IOWA) 4. Tyler Kasak (PSU) 5. Dylan D’Emilio (OSU) 6. Ethen Miller (MD) 7. Joe Zargo (WIS) 8. Graham Rooks (IND) 9. Drew Roberts (MINN) 10. Michael Cetta (RUT) 11. Marcos Polanco (PUR) 12. Braden Stauffenberg (MSU) 13. Aiden Vandenbush (NU) 14. Jake Harrier (ILL) NCAA Allocations: (9) First Round Match to Watch: #7 Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) vs. #10 Michael Cetta (Rutgers) Projected Semifinals: #1 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs. #4 Tyler Kasak (Penn State); #2 Austin Gomez (Michigan) vs. #6 Ethen Miller (Maryland) Like 133 lbs, this is a weight class that looks very different from last season. Redshirts, graduation, weight changes, and new freshmen have given this bracket a new feel. The top seed is Ridge Lovett, a 2021 Big Ten runner-up. Though he missed out on the conference finals in 2022, Lovett ended up in the NCAA championship bout. This year he cruised the most of the regular season before suffering a loss to Arizona State’s Kyle Parco on the final weekend of February. We’ll see if that loss refocused Lovett on the task at hand this week. The second seed, Austin Gomez, was focused on an entirely different task last week as he was in Acapulco qualifying himself and Team Mexico for the 2024 Olympics. Gomez joined the Michigan team midseason and has quickly re-emerged as a title contender. In 2022, it was Gomez who pinned Lovett in the Big Ten semifinals, before winning the title and earning All-American honors. To Lovett’s credit, he dominated the rematch earlier this season. One item we’ll be paying attention to is the health of third-seeded Caleb Rathjen. Rathjen missed Iowa’s season-ending win over Oklahoma State as he was nursing a supposedly minor injury. In the second half of the year, Rathjen emerged as the Hawkeyes starter and picked up key wins against Minnesota, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Because he could be limited, I think it’s a possibility that he gets knocked off in the quarters by home favorite Ethen Miller. Miller comes in a winner of his last five Big Ten duals and will have a large home crowd on his side. I like either the #7/10 or the #8/9 matchup as the two best first-round matches. Zargo/Cetta in particular gives the winner a boost and a push towards the top-eight and automatic qualification. A loss likely relegates one to the ninth-place bracket which is far from ideal. Predictions 1st: Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) over Austin Gomez (Michigan) 3rd: Tyler Kasak (Penn State) over Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State) 5th: Caleb Rathjen (Iowa) over Ethen Miller (Maryland) 7th: Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) over Graham Rooks (Indiana) 157 lbs 1. Levi Haines (PSU) 2. Michael Blockhus (MINN) 3. Brayton Lee (IND) 4. Jared Franek (IOWA) 5. Peyton Robb (NEB) 6. Chase Saldate (MSU) 7. Will Lewan (MICH) 8. Joey Blaze (PUR) 9. Trevor Chumbley (NU) 10. Isaac Wilcox (OSU) 11. Al DeSantis (RUT) 12. Michael North (MD) 13. Luke Mechler (WIS) 14. Logan Swaw (ILL) NCAA Allocations: (9) First Round Match to Watch: #8 Joey Blaze (Purdue) vs. #9 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) Projected Semifinals: #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. #5 Peyton Robb (Nebraska); #2 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) vs. #3 Brayton Lee (Indiana) This has been my favorite weight class to follow nationally as well as in the Big Ten. There are six past All-Americans, and four Big Ten finalists - including both finalists from last year. In 2023, Peyton Robb was the top seed and was undefeated until he ran into Penn State freshman phenom Levi Haines. Haines prevailed over Robb in the Big Ten finals and again in the NCAA semis. As a sophomore, Haines has won all 15 matches on the year and notched bonus points in two-thirds of those contests. The brackets are set for another Haines/Robb matchup. That is provided Robb can get by rival Jared Franek in the quarters. Franek got by Robb by a point in their dual this year and in overtime at nationals last season. Of course, the NCAA match was while Robb was in the beginning stages of battling a nasty infection that nearly cost him his leg. Earlier in the 2022-23 season, Robb defeated Franek, 7-4. This is a weight where there were likely some questions surrounding the seeding. Brayton Lee enters the postseason unbeaten; however, he only has seen action in eight bouts all year and four B1G duals. Lee wrestled through injuries last season and was nowhere near the wrestler who made the podium in 2021. We’re still not sure how close he is to that form. If he’s close, then he’ll be a finals threat. Chase Saldate was saddled with the sixth seed despite only having one Big Ten loss (Haines) and wrestling in every conference match. And based on the way duals broke, Saldate didn’t hit most of the top contenders in the league. With such a deep weight class you have dangerous wrestlers in that seven through nine range with multi-time All-American Will Lewan (#7), stud freshman Joey Blaze (#8), and Trevor Chumbley (#9), who was the #13 seed at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Predictions 1st: Levi Haines (Penn State) over Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 3rd: Peyton Robb (Nebraska) over Jared Franek (Iowa) 5th: Chase Saldate (Michigan State) over Brayton Lee (Indiana) 7th: Will Lewan (Michigan) over Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) 165 lbs 1. Dean Hamiti (WIS) 2. Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) 3. Michael Caliendo (IOWA) 4. Caleb Fish (MSU) 5. Antrell Taylor (NEB) 6. Cameron Amine (MICH) 7. Stoney Buell (PUR) 8. Bryce Hepner (OSU) 9. Tyler Lillard (IND) 10. Blaine Brenner (MINN) 11. Chris Moore (ILL) 12. Maxx Mayfield (NU) 13. Anthony White (RUT) 14. AJ Rodrigues (MD) NCAA Allocations: (10) First Round Match to Watch: #8 Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) vs. #9 Tyler Lillard (Indiana) Projected Semifinals: #1 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) vs. #5 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska); #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa) Here’s an opportunity to see one of the most anticipated matches of conference weekend with a potential final between the Wisconsin star Dean Hamiti and the Wisconsin high school sensation Mitchell Mesenbrink, who is competing for Penn State. Hamiti captured a Big Ten title last season and was third in 2022, as a true freshman. He’s gone on to place sixth at both NCAA Tournaments. The U20 world champion, Mesenbrink, has taken the collegiate scene by storm winning all 19 of his contests and tallying bonus points in almost 75% of them. So far, he’s knocked off a pair of returning All-Americans - most impressively an 11-1 major decision over 3x AA Cam Amine. Another freshman to watch is the fifth seed, Antrell Taylor. He also fits the bill as a young guy who’s getting better every time he takes the mat. Taylor went 2-2 at the CKLV losing one match via major decision to Stoney Buell. When the two squared off later in the dual season, it was Taylor who prevailed via major. In the lead-up to the release of the Big Ten seeds, many questioned where Amine would end up. He’s been in and out of the Wolverine lineup this year and does not have a Big Ten win. He’s been placed at the sixth slot, though you could have made a case for Buell or Bryce Hepner to be ahead of him. If Amine is healthy, he could give Caliendo fits. Though the two did not meet last season, Amine outplaced him on the NCAA podium. Throughout his career, Amine is someone who has seemed to shine in the postseason. Is this where he turns the corner? Predictions 1st: Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) over Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 3rd: Michael Caliendo (Iowa) over Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) 5th: Caleb Fish (Michigan State) over Stoney Buell (Purdue) 7th: Cameron Amine (Michigan) over Bryce Hepner (Ohio State) 174 lbs 1. Carter Starocci (PSU) 2. Shane Griffith (MICH) 3. Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) 4. Edmond Ruth (ILL) 5. Rocco Welsh (OSU) 6. Jackson Turley (RUT) 7. Max Maylor (WIS) 8. DJ Washington (IND) 9. Andrew Sparks (MINN) 10. Brody Baumann (PUR) 11. Dominic Solis (MD) 12. Bubba Wilson (NEB) 13. DJ Shannon (MSU) 14. David Ferrante (NU) NCAA Allocations: (8) First Round Match to Watch: #5 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) vs. #12 Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) Projected Semifinals: #4 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) vs. #8 DJ Washington (Indiana); #2 Shane Griffith (Michigan) vs. #3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) The entire weight class and the predictions here hinge on the status of Carter Starocci. He suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury during the Nittany Lions final dual meet of the regular season. If Starocci is limited Penn State can either injury default him twice, which puts him outside of the top-eight and forces the NCAA committee to give Starocci an at-large berth. He could wrestle in the quarterfinals and, should he win, he’s in the top-six and could default from that point and finish in the top-six. Or if he’s feeling great, he wrestles the entire tournament. For the purposes of our predictions, we’re guessing Starocci and the PSU staff choose the first option and go with back-to-back, one-second injury defaults. If Starocci is out of the picture it opens up the top half of the bracket. That 4 vs. 5 quarterfinal between Edmond Ruth and Rocco Welsh is huge. The two met during the first weekend of Big Ten dual action and Ruth prevailed, 2-1. It’s reasonable to think that a freshman with Welsh’s pedigree and talent is able to reverse that result almost two months later. Before getting to Ruth, Welsh has a tough first-round matchup against Bubba Wilson. Wilson is a two-time national qualifier who ideally would be at 165 lbs, but the presence of Antrell Taylor has made him move. Even if Welsh is too much, Wilson will put up a strong fight. On the bottom half of the bracket, you have 2021 national champion Shane Griffith as the second seed and Patrick Kennedy as the third seed. For most of the 2023-24 season, Griffith has been content to grind out close wins. His 11-1 major decision over Kennedy was probably his most impressive performance of the season. We’ll see if he can channel that win in the semis. Should Starocci not finish the tournament, in some form or fashion, it could open up a qualifying spot for someone in the lower half of the seeds - someone who may not have qualified under normal circumstances. Predictions 1st: Shane Griffith (Michigan) over Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) 3rd: Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) over Jackson Turley (Rutgers) 5th: Edmond Ruth (Illinois) over DJ Washington (Indiana) 7th: Max Maylor (Wisconsin) over Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 184 lbs 1. Isaiah Salazar (MINN) 2. Lenny Pinto (NEB) 3. Bernie Truax (PSU) 4. Ryder Rogotzke (OSU) 5. Jaden Bullock (MICH) 6. Layne Malczewski (MSU) 7. Shane Liegel (WIS) 8. Brian Soldano (RUT) 9. Troy Fisher (NU) 10. Roman Rogotzke (IND) 11. Dylan Connell (ILL) 12. James Rowley (PUR) 13. Aiden Riggins (IOWA) 14. Chase Mielnik (MD) NCAA Allocations: (8) First Round Match to Watch: #7 Shane Liegel (Wisconsin) vs. #10 Roman Rogotzke (Indiana) Projected Semifinals: #1 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) vs. #4 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State); #2 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) vs. #3 Bernie Truax (Penn State) With the arrival of three-time All-American Bernie Truax in State College, I’m sure many fans expected Truax to immediately jump into the Big Ten finals. Truax has been very good, but not necessarily unbeatable. Of course, he could change the narrative with a couple of slight upsets over the weekend. The top seed is Isaiah Salazar who is probably the most overlooked one seed in the tournament. Salazar comes into the postseason with 18 wins in 19 matches. He is undefeated against Big Ten foes and his most notable victory this year came over Lenny Pinto during early in the conference dual season. Aside from that, Salazar has not met up with many of the top contenders at this weight. This is a weight class that has seen a handful of wrestlers emerge as potential high-finishers and good bets to qualify. True freshman Ryder Rogotzke has become one of the most enjoyable wrestlers in the country to watch and assumed starting duties relatively late in the year. Jaden Bullock used a sixth-place finish in Vegas to solidify his spot in the Wolverine lineup, while Shane Liegel was a DIII national champion for Loras who decided to try his hand at the DI level with his final year of eligibility. He ended up winning Midlands and establishing himself as a legitament threat. One unique feature in this weight class is a set of brothers. We’ve already discussed Ryder, but his older brother, Roman, is the tenth seed for Indiana. Predictions 1st: Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) over Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 3rd: Bernie Truax (Penn State) over Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) 5th: Jaden Bullock (Michigan) over Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) 7th: Brian Soldano (Rutgers) over Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 197 lbs 1. Aaron Brooks (PSU) 2. Jaxon Smith (MD) 3. Zach Glazier (IOWA) 4. Silas Allred (NEB) 5. Garrett Joles (MINN) 6. Luke Geog (OSU) 7. John Poznanski (RUT) 8. Evan Bates (NU) 9. Ben Vanadia (PUR) 10. Gabe Sollars (IND) 11. Kael Wisler (MSU) 12. Isiah Pettigrew (ILL) 13. Bobby Striggow (MICH) 14. Josh Otto (WIS) NCAA Allocations: (7) First Round Match to Watch: #6 Luke Geog (Ohio State) vs. #11 Kael Wisler (Michigan State) Projected Semifinals: #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #4 Silas Allred (Nebraska); #2 Jaxon Smith (Maryland) vs. #3 Zach Glazier (Iowa) It’s not every year that you have the opportunity to see a pair of returning Big Ten champions meet prior to the finals, but that’s what could happen at 197 lbs. Top-seeded Aaron Brooks has moved up from 184 lbs and looks as good as ever. He’s earned bonus points in 13 of 14 matches this year and has been about as dominant as any wrestler at any weight. Brooks will be aiming for his fourth Big Ten title before moving on to his fourth national chip. A potential semifinal matchup with Brooks could include the 2023 Big Ten champion at this weight, Silas Allred. The two have already met in dual meet competition and Brooks cruised to a 17-4 major decision. It was one of two Big Ten losses on the year for Allred. The other B1G wrestler to beat Allred this year is Iowa’s Zach Glazier. In his first year as a full-time starter, Glazier has been excellent. A 5-1 loss to Brooks represents the only blemish on his record this year. He’s also the only opponent that has held Brooks to a regular decision. Before worrying about another match with Brooks, Glazier will have to contend with the local favorite Jaxon Smith. The sophomore from Maryland was an NCAA Round of 12 finisher last season and was third in the conference, as well. This year he knocked off returning national runner-up, Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) to make the CKLV finals. Smith and Glazier have not met this season. Things could get difficult early on for Smith on the bottom half of the bracket as he could face 2021 All-American John Poznanski in his first bout. Poznanski has lost his last two duals; however, during his All-American run, it was the Big Ten tournament where he first broke out. The first-round match to watch at this weight is between a pair of talented redshirt freshmen Luke Geog and Kael Wisler. The two did not meet in the regular season. Wisler competed early and often and sports a 23-12 record. He did start to take on water a bit as he moved into the B1G schedule. Geog has a relatively modest 12-6 record, but did hand Poznanski his second loss of the season. Predictions 1st: Aaron Brooks (Penn State) over Jaxon Smith (Maryland) 3rd: Zach Glazier (Iowa) over Silas Allred (Nebraska) 5th: Garrett Joles (Minnesota) over John Poznanski (Rutgers) 7th: Luke Geog (Ohio State) over Gabe Sollars (Indiana) 285 lbs 1. Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) 2. Nick Feldman (OSU) 3. Lucas Davison (MICH) 4. Yaraslau Slavikouski (RUT) 5. Seth Nevills (MD) 6. Nick Willham (IND) 7. Bradley Hill (IOWA) 8. Bennett Tabor (MINN) 9. Josh Terrill (MSU) 10. Nash Hutmacher (NEB) 11. Jack Jessen (NU) 12. Gannon Rosenfeld (WIS) 13. Peter Marinopoulos (ILL) 14. Hayden Filipovich (PUR) NCAA Allocations: (7) First Round Match to Watch: #7 Bradley Hill (Iowa) vs. #10 Nash Hutmacher (Nebraska) Projected Semifinals: #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. #4 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers); #2 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) vs. #3 Lucas Davison (Michigan) In each of the last two years, the Hodge Trophy winner has come from the 285 lb weight class in the Big Ten. There were some monster brackets in both of those seasons. Graduation (and WWE contracts) have made the weight class slightly more manageable, but you still have the undefeated, top-ranked big man in the land sitting atop the bracket in Greg Kerkvliet. Kerkvliet comes into the postseason with a perfect 12-0 record and bonus points in nine of those contests. He also has decisive wins over both the second and third-seeded wrestlers in the bracket. Numbers two and three belong to freshman Nick Feldman and two-time AA Lucas Davison. The pair clashed in the epic dual win that was clinched by Feldman’s third-period takedown over the elder Davison. Feldman was dealing with injuries earlier in the season, but has recently shown the form that made him the top recruit in the high school Class of 2022. Davison is looking to finally break into the Big Ten finals for the first time. Amazingly enough, he has placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships in each of his previous tries. I’m sure that's a trend he’d rather ruin. The top side of the bracket could get interesting with Kerkvliet and former teammate Seth Nevills. Nevills moved on to Maryland in the offseason and finally has gotten extended time as the starter. But to get to match with his old teammate, Nevills would have to go through Yaraslau Slavikouski again. The two met in the final weekend of the Big Ten dual season and Nevills prevailed, 5-2. Slavikouski also transferred last summer. He was seeded sixth at the 2023 NCAA Tournament for Harvard and came up a match shy of All-American status. The first round will provide us with a rematch between Bradley Hill and Nebraska football star Nash Hutmacher. The Cornhusker defensive lineman fell 4-1 in his Big Ten debut to Hill. As a high schooler, Hutmacher placed in the top three in Fargo on six occasions. Despite the fanfare surrounding his football-playing teammate Ben Kueter, Hill put together a very solid redshirt freshman season with 12 wins against only four losses. Predictions 1st: Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) over Lucas Davison (Michigan) 3rd: Nick Feldman (Ohio State) over Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) 5th: Seth Nevills (Maryland) over Bradley Hill (Iowa) 7th: Nick Willham (Indiana) over Nash Hutmacher (Nebraska) Team Score Projection 1st) Penn State 2nd) Michigan 3rd) Nebraska 4th) Iowa 5th) Ohio State

Friday marks the first day of the DI postseason and both women’s national tournaments. With nine different tournaments to follow over a three day span, it can be difficult to find how and when each event and round takes place. InterMat is here to help with a different version of the viewer guide. It’s broken down by day and has times for each round. Beware, there is a link for each tournament; however, ESPN/ACC Network has multiple links for different days/mats/sessions. Hopefully, the initial link will get you in the right direction. Also!!!!! Times listed are Eastern….not local times! Have fun and get those extra screens and devices hooked up! Friday, March 8th: EIWA Championships - FloWrestling 10:30 AM - Round of 32, Round of 16, Consolations 4:30 PM - Quarterfinals, Consolations MAC Championships - ESPN+ 12:00 PM - First Round 2:00 PM - Quarterfinals/Consolations 5:00 PM - Semifinals/Consolations NCWWC National Championships - FloWrestling 12:00 PM - First Round 5:00 PM - Quarterfinals, Consolations NAIA Women's National Championships - FloWrestling 11:00 AM - Championship First and Second Rounds; Consolations 7:00 PM - Quarterfinals; Consolations Saturday, March 9th Big 12 Championships - ESPN+ 11:00 AM - First Round, Quarterfinals 6:00 PM - Semifinals, Consolations Big Ten Championships - B1G+ 10 AM - First Round, Quarterfinals, Consolations 5 PM - Consolations 7 PM - Semifinals EIWA Championships - FloWrestling 10:30 AM - Semifinals, Consolations 4:45 PM - Finals, Placement Matches MAC Championships - ESPN+ 11:30 AM - Consolation Quarterfinals 1:00 PM - Consolation Semifinals 3:00 PM - Championship Finals/Placement Matches NCWWC National Championships - FloWrestling 12:00 PM - Semifinals, Consolation Semifinals, 3rd/5th/7th Place 8:00 PM - Championship Finals NAIA Women's National Championships - FloWrestling 11:00 AM - Semifinals, Consolations, 3rd/5th/7th Place 8:00 PM - Championship Finals SoCon Championships - ESPN+ 10:00 AM - First Round 12:00 PM - Semifinals 2:00 PM - Consolations 5:30 PM- Consolation Finals 7:00 PM - Championship Finals Sunday, March 10th ACC Championships - ESPN+ 11:00 AM - First Round 1:00 PM - Semifinals 3:30 PM - Consolation Semis 5:00 PM - Consolation Finals 7:00 PM - Championship Finals ACC Network Pac-12 Championships - Pac-12 Network 1:00 PM - First Session 9:00 PM - Championship Session Big 12 Championships - ESPN+ 1:00 PM - Placement Matches 8:30 PM - Championship Finals - ESPN2 Big Ten Championships - B1G+ 12:00 PM - Consolation Semis, 7th place Matches 4:30 PM - Placement Matches - Big Ten Network

The Big 12 brackets dropped and gave us a great look at what to expect this year in Tulsa. Based on seeds, Iowa State and Oklahoma State are tied for first. Two-time returning Big 12 champs Missouri are sitting at 3rd in projections and will be looking to surprise people to win their 13th consecutive conference title. For the most part, the seeds follow rankings but there are some weights that have a lot of change, which could create some chaos. The Big 12 has depth in a number of weights that may be missing an AQ or two. For each weight, I threw in some guys I considered “bracket busters”, ones that could rocket to the top or get some upsets that throw things in flux. The Big 12 is shaping up to be a great tournament with a genuine fight for the team title and will give whatever team wins a lot of momentum as a trophy contender. 125lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #11 Noah Surtin, Missouri #13 Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State #7 Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado #21 Tanner Jordan, South Dakota State #12 Jore Volk, Wyoming #27 Kysen Terukina, Iowa State Jett Strickenberger, West Virginia #26 Trever Anderson, Northern Iowa This bracket, like most of 125 this year, looks like it could be chaos. There are only six qualifying spots at this weight with eight to ten wrestlers I could see finishing that high. Stevo Poulin and Noah Surtin are returning finalists, where Poulin won an 11-4 decision. Troy Spratley actually beat top seed Noah Surtin in an overtime dual match, but losses to Tanner Jordan and Jore Volk dropped him. Returning Big 12 champ Stevo Poulin’s only losses this season are actually to unseeded wrestlers Eli Griffin and Jett Strickenberger, highlighting the craziness of this weight. Griffin was actually my preseason breakout wrestler pick and has the win over Poulin, but losses to Kysen Terukina, Tanner Jordan, and Trever Anderson. He and Anderson have a first-round rematch, with the winner taking on Surtin for the first time. That quarterfinal could get wild, and if Griffin gets hot then look out. Conrad Hendrickson is another unseeded wrestler to look out for, as the true freshman has been in one takedown matches with Troy Spratley and Kysen Terukina. Add in wins over Jett Strickenberger and Trever Anderson and he could be primed for an upset somewhere. Strickenberger is a wildcard himself, with a unique style that can give opponents issues. If he can navigate a rematch with 2023 qualifier Tucker Owens, a match he won 10-8 this season, then a match with Troy Spratley is intriguing. As crazy as this weight *could* get it is hard to not expect some combination of Surtin/Volk/Spratley/Poulin in the finals. All four are the most established, with the biggest wins and for the most part, have been consistent. That doesn’t mean 125 won’t continue to be crazy and the Big 12 has the depth that could see upsets galore and leave some quality wrestlers needing an At-Large bid. Bracket Busters: Eli Griffin (California Baptist), Conrad Hendricksen (Oklahoma) Semifinal Projection: Noah Surtin (Missouri) vs Jore Volk (Wyoming); Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) vs Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) Finals Pick: Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) over Noah Surtin (Missouri) Projected Qualifiers: Noah Surtin, Troy Spratley, Stevo Poulin, Jore Volk, Tanner Jordan, Kysen Terukina 133lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #3 Daton Fix, Oklahoma State #7 Evan Frost, Iowa State #14 Dom Serrano, Northern Colorado #19 Derrick Cardinal, South Dakota State #24 Julian Farber, Northern Iowa #22 Kade Moore, Missouri Hunter Leake, California Baptist Garrett Ricks, Wyoming Daton Fix is looking to make history as the first-ever 5x Big 12 champ, although he could be joined by David Carr later in the night. Fix has never lost to a conference opponent and will be heavily favored to do so again. Earlier this season he beat Evan Frost with an 11-3 major. The battle on the other side of the bracket to get to the finals is intriguing with Frost, Dom Serrano, and Kade Moore. Frost is the most consistent wrestler at this weight this year and has some solid ranked wins. He and Serrano haven’t hit, however, and while Serrano doesn’t have the same high-profile wins he did beat Nasir Bailey, while Frost was teched 15-0. A wildcard looking to prevent that from happening is Kade Moore, a wrestler who pinned Sam Latona and had a wild 10-9 loss to Vito Arujau. He hasn’t wrestled since the Vito match due to an off-the-mat injury, but has an exciting style that had him looking impressive to that point. Looking at other potential upsets, I really like Julian Farber at the five to make the semis. With wins over Nic Bouzakis and Jacob Van Dee, Farber has a lot of upside if he’s wrestling to his potential. Hunter Leake at the seven seed will have to have at least one upset, but I like him and/or Eli Griffin to potentially be the Lancers first qualifier. Fernando Barreto is a name some might not be familiar with but just beat Derrick Cardinal to finish the season and could be dangerous in the right matchup. Bracket Busters: Kade Moore (Missouri), Fernando Barreto (North Dakota State) Semifinal Projection: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs Julian Farber (Northern Iowa); Evan Frost (Iowa State) vs Kade Moore (Missouri) Finals Pick: Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) over Evan Frost (Iowa State) Projected Qualifiers: Daton Fix, Evan Frost, Dom Serrano, Kade Moore, Julian Farber, Hunter Leake 141lbs - 5 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #7 Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State #9 Tagen Jamison, Oklahoma State #8 Cael Happel, Northern Iowa #11 Jordan Titus, Western Virginia #22 Clay Carlson, South Dakota State #28 Josh Edmond, Missouri #29 Haiden Drury, Utah Valley #30 Cole Brooks, Wyoming A weight with only five qualifying spots is one of the deepest, with nine ranked wrestlers and four in the top 12. Beyond that top 12 is two-time All-American Clay Carlson and Josh Edmond who have had one-point matches with three of the top four. Echemendia, Jamison, and Happel have all traded wins and losses this season while Titus lost to Jamison and Happel. Echemendia’s style is always fun to watch, and a match with Wyoming true freshman Cole Brooks should be no different. I like Echemendia in that match to take on the winner of Titus vs Carlson. Titus has been mostly dominant this season but Carlson is looking to peak once again late in the season. Last year Carlson was also the fifth seed, but finished third. The bottom half of the bracket has plenty of intrigue, starting with a likely rematch of Happel vs Edmond. In a dual match just a couple weeks ago Edmond scored the 4-3 upset, but Happel was right there late. Ironically, last year Happel was also the third seed, but lost to the sixth seed Allan Hart from Missouri. Haiden Drury is seeded but still gets a ranked opponent in #31 Gavin Drexler of North Dakota State. The two wrestled in an early February dual with Drury getting the 8-7 win. That is a big match for the back half of the team scores, and could play a role in potential At-Large bids. Bracket Busters: Clay Carlson (South Dakota State), Josh Edmond (Missouri), Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) Semifinal Projection: Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) vs Clay Carlson (South Dakota State); Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) vs Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) Finals Pick: Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) over Anthony Echemendia (Iowa State) Projected Qualifiers: Anthony Echemendia, Tagen Jamison, Cael Happel, Jordan Titus, Clay Carlson 149lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #6 Casey Swiderski, Iowa State #17 Willie McDougald, Oklahoma #7 Ty Watters, West Virginia #18 Jordan Williams, Oklahoma State #22 Alek Martin, South Dakota State #31 Maxwell Petersen, North Dakota State #27 Gabe Willochell, Wyoming #26 Logan Gioffre, Missouri As evidenced by the seed and rankings discrepancy, this weight could get weird. Swiderski is undefeated against conference opponents and has plenty of dominant wins to make him an easy one. McDougald didn’t have the best regular season but a win over Ty Watters and two wins over Jordan Williams shot him up to the two seed. On the top side of the bracket, there is likely a quarters match with Swiderski vs Gioffre. Similar to Kade Moore, Gioffre has missed quite a bit of time due to injury for Missouri. When he was healthy he looked like he was going to be a factor with wins over Willie McDougald and Jaden Abas and losses to top-eight opponents. Swiderski has looked dominant and I have him in the finals but look out for Gioffre to make a backside run. Jordan Williams has a nice run to the semis, with a potential rematch against Alek Martin in the quarters. Williams pinned Martin in the dual and if he can repeat the result would score some big bonus points. Known as the “Iceman” in high school, Williams has an X factor on the big stage that could come into play. On the bottom side of the bracket Watters has been one of the best true freshmen this season and his lanky build makes him an excellent scrambler. I like him to make a run to the finals if he can navigate McDougald’s stout defense and underhook. McDougald could have a tough run to make it there with a match against Gabe Willochell. Bracket Busters: Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State), Logan Gioffre (Missouri) Semifinal Projection: Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) vs Jordan Williams (Oklahoma State); Ty Watters (West Virginia) vs Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) Finals Pick: Casey Swiderski (Iowa State) over Ty Watters (West Virginia Projected Qualifiers: Casey Swiderski, Ty Watters, Jordan Williams, Logan Gioffre, Willie McDougald, Maxwell Petersen 157lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #2 Vinny Zerban, Northern Colorado #13 Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa #10 Teague Travis, Oklahoma State #14 Cody Chittum, Iowa State #11 Brock Mauller, Missouri #18 Cael Swensen, South Dakota State Landen Johnson, North Dakota State #30 Jared Hill, Oklahoma Vinny Zerban is quietly one of the last undefeated wrestlers at this weight, but he hasn’t wrestled any of the other the top seven seeds. He will likely see Jared Hill in the quarters, a match that was a 4-3 decision win for him at the Southern Scuffle. Surprisingly, a number of the wrestlers in the top six haven’t wrestled each other. The other quarter for that semi could hold the potential finalist with Brock Mauller vs Cody Chittum. Mauller is the established veteran who was a Big 12 finalist last year while Chittum is the blue-chip prospect who has high podium potential. The bottom half of the bracket could see a rematch between Teague Travis and Cael Swensen, which was a 4-1 win for Travis in sudden victory in the dual. Whoever can come through to the semis is likely looking at a match with Ryder Downey. Travis lost to a 4-1 decision to him in the dual, but he’s never wrestled Cael Swensen. Zerban could prove me wrong and win a title, but I think one of the other top five seeds could surprise people and shoot up the rankings. 157 isn’t 125 but has had quite a bit of volatility this season and I think that continues with this bracket. Bracket Busters: Brock Mauller (Missouri), Jared Hill (Oklahoma), Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) Semifinal Projection: Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado) vs Cody Chittum (Iowa State), Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) vs Ryder Downey (Northern Colorado) Finals Pick: Ryder Downey (Northern Colorado) over Cody Chittum (Iowa State) Projected Qualifiers: Ryder Downey, Cody Chittum, Brock Mauller, Teague Travis, Vinny Zerban, Cael Swensen 165lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #1 Keegan O’Toole, Missouri #2 David Carr, Iowa State #7 Peyton Hall, West Virginia #8 Izzak Olejnik, Oklahoma State #13 Giano Petrucelli, Air Force #25 Cael Carlson, Oklahoma Tanner Cook, South Dakota State Cooper Voorhees, Wyoming The match of the tournament is shaping up to be David Carr vs Keegan O’Toole, with Carr looking to finish his career with five Big 12 titles. It won’t exactly come easy with top opponents in Izzak Olejnik and Peyton Hall looking to avenge regular season losses. With the projected semifinals of Carr vs Hall and O’Toole vs Olejnik, both have happened this season. Carr beat Hall 10-5 and O’Toole beat Olejnik 5-1. Both wrestlers are savvy and could certainly make things interesting but it would be surprising to see an upset. The backside of the bracket could get interesting with another potential rematch in the third-place match between Olejnik and Hall. Hall won the dual match with a 5-1 decision and the only takedown in the match. The top four could wrestle to seed, but with six qualifier spots look out for Tanner Cook looking to make something happen. He hasn’t had the consistency with injuries this year, but he’s always dangerous and could certainly be someone to look out for. If Cook can get some bonus points on the backside that could be a big swing for the Jackrabbits as well. Other than that I think this weight will be pretty chalk and set up a thriller finale. Bracket Busters: Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) Semifinal Projection: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs Izzak Olejnik (Oklahoma State); David Carr (Iowa State) vs Peyton Hall (West Virginia) Finals Pick: Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) over David Carr (Iowa State) Projected Qualifiers: Keegan O’Toole, David Carr, Peyton Hall, Izzak Olejnik, Giano Petrucelli, Cael Carlson 174lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #4 Cade DeVos, South Dakota State #19 MJ Gaitan, Iowa State #21 Brayden Thompson, Oklahoma State #10 Peyton Mocco, Missouri #22 Jared Simma, Northern Iowa #31 Tate Picklo, Oklahoma #20 Gaven Sax, North Dakota State #29 Brody Conley, West Virginia Another Big 12 weight where it feels short an AQ spot or two, there are only six spots with eight ranked wrestlers. The rankings and the seeds are all over the place, which only adds to the chaos. Rising above all that is Cade DeVos who has wins over five of the top seven seeds. Undefeated in conference, he feels primed to be the Jackrabbits first Big 12 champ since Seth Gross in 2018. To do that he’ll likely see Peyton Mocco, a wrestler he’s 2-3 against but won the most recent match in the dual. Mocco is likely to have a highly entertaining match with Jared Simma, who will likely be more than willing to mix it up in the scrambles. The bottom half of the bracket has plenty of intrigue and potential rematches. Brayden Thompson majored Tate Picklo in the first Bedlam, but lost in overtime in the second one. The two are set up to meet in the quarters in a match that could go a lot of ways with the two scrambling. The winner of that is likely to see MJ Gaitan, who pinned Tate Picklo but had a close overtime win with Brayden Thompson. Both Iowa State and Oklahoma State will be looking to their starters to make the finals if they meet up. Some dark horses I like are the aforementioned Picklo, who if he gets hot like last year could make a shocking run. Brody Conley at the eighth seed is intriguing as well as he had a buzzer-beater loss to Jared Simma and a quick fall loss to MJ Gaitan but hasn’t seen any other seeded wrestlers. Running into DeVos early is tough, but I like his chances to make a run on the backside. Bracket Busters: Tate Picklo (Oklahoma), Brody Conley (West Virginia) Semifinal Projection: Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) vs Peyton Mocco (Missouri); Tate Picklo (Oklahoma) vs MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) Finals Pick: Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) over MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) Projected Qualifiers: Cade DeVos, MJ Gaitan, Peyton Mocco, Brayden Thompson, Tate Picklo, Brody Conley 184 lbs - 5 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #1 Parker Keckeisen, Northern Iowa #2 Dustin Plott, Oklahoma State #8 Bennett Berge, South Dakota State #13 Colton Hawks, Missouri #14 Will Feldkamp, Iowa State #11 Sam Wolf, Air Force #28 Dennis Robin, West Virginia Ethan Ducca, Wyoming Despite six wrestlers ranked in the top 15, this weight only has five automatic qualifier spots. Parker Keckeisen is undefeated against Big 12 competition in his career and the heavy favorite to win his fourth Big 12 title with wins over three of the top four. His quarterfinals match will be against Colton Hawks or Will Feldkamp, both wrestlers he majored this season. Despite not starting most of the season, Hawks won the starting spot over Clayton Whiting late in the year including a win over Will Feldkamp. Hawks also has wins over Aaron Ayzerov and Isaiah Salazar this season, but hasn’t had consistency. That could create an opportunity for Feldkamp to get revenge, but if he goes to the backside then Iowa State could score big bonus points with Feldkamp’s skill set. Despite being a returning All-American he is still the five seed and someone I think could outplace his seed significantly. The bottom half of the bracket is shaping up for a Dustin Plott vs Bennett Berge rematch. The two went to overtime in the dual with Plott needing a comeback to tie and scored the winning takedown. Plott is a two-time Big 12 champ at 174 though, and as veteran as it gets for the young Jackrabbit. Dennis Robin could be one to look out for as he just hasn’t seen too much in conference competition. He had a close loss to Sam Wolf, who’s been in and out of the lineup, but otherwise has only seen Dustin Plott and Parker Keckeisen which makes his ceiling tough to gauge. Breaking the top five will be tough, but Robin could surprise with an upset somewhere. Sam Wolf is another one that has potential, but has an injury history and missed Air Force’s last two duals. He had regular-season wins over Clayton Whiting, Dennis Robin, Jaden Bullock, and Chris Foca so he is dangerous. Bracket Busters: Sam Wolf (Air Force), Dennis Robin (West Virginia) Semifinal Projection: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs Colton Hawks (Missouri); Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) vs Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) Finals Pick: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) over Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) Projected Qualifiers: Parker Keckeisen, Dustin Plott, Bennett Berge, Colton Hawks, Will Feldkamp 197lbs - 6 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #5 Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State #6 Stephen Buchanan, Oklahoma #10 Rocky Elam, Missouri #14 Evan Bockman, Utah Valley #24 Wyatt Voelker, Northern Iowa #19 Joey Novak, Wyoming #16 Luke Surber, Oklahoma State Austin Cooley, West Virginia The top of this weight class is stacked with returning Big 12 champ Rocky Elam as the three seed. Tanner Sloan beat both him and Stephen Buchanan this season, and like DeVos is a strong contender to be SDSU’s first champ in over five years. The last time we saw Buchanan, he was also winning a Big 12 title and while we haven’t seen him as much lately, is a strong contender. Sloan seems like a near-semis lock and will likely see the winner of Wyatt Voelker vs Evan Bockman. Bockman won a 4-2 decision last time but I always think it's interesting when a young guy like Voelker can wrestle close against a veteran like Bockman. Both wrestlers are hard to score on so a one takedown match is likely, but a win here gets you to the semis and NCAA’s. On the bottom half of the bracket is a similar story with a potential rematch with Rocky Elam and Joey Novak. A true freshman phenom for Wyoming, Novak had a 5-3 match with Elam in the dual early this season. Even if Novak drops that one, I still like him making it happen to qualify on the backside. Luke Surber at the seven seed would shock many at the beginning of the season but injuries have hampered his season significantly. He’s had close matches with highly ranked wrestlers lately, but hasn’t been able to come up on the winning side. If he and Buchanan are both beat up in a quarters match, it could be a coin flip and Surber has a lot of upside. If brackets go chalk, a match between Surber and Novak on the backside to automatically qualify has fireworks all over it as my two bracket-buster picks. Bracket Busters: Luke Surber (Oklahoma State), Joey Novak (Wyoming) Semifinal Projection: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) vs Evan Bockman (Utah Valley); Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) Finals Pick: Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) over Stephen Buchanan (Oklahoma) Projected Qualifiers: Tanner Sloan, Stephen Buchanan, Rocky Elam, Evan Bockman, Joey Novak, Wyatt Voelker 285lbs - 5 AQ’s Seeded Wrestlers: #2 Wyatt Hendrickson, Air Force #3 Yonger Bastida, Iowa State #5 Zach Elam, Missouri #10 Josh Heindselman, Oklahoma #11 Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State #15 Tyrell Gordon, Northern Iowa Michael Wolfgram, West Virginia Kevin Zimmer, Wyoming The top two wrestlers at this weight are both undefeated and have a combined 80% bonus rate this year. Bastida has the stronger overall resume this year, but Hendrickson is the two-time returning Big 12 champ. He hasn’t had the strongest competition but has been dominant against whom he’s faced with 16 pins this year. He is likely looking at a match against the winner between Konner Doucet and Josh Heindselman. These two are very familiar with each other and have traded wins in their careers and this season. Heindselman won the last match in Bedlam, but this match is the epitome of a tossup as the score in every match has been 2-1. Doucet’s defensive-heavy style doesn’t make for exciting matches, but with so many overtime matches his ability to outplace his seed wouldn’t be shocking. The bottom half of the bracket has an intriguing match with Zach Elam vs Tyrell Gordon likely. Elam is 4-0 against Gordon but went to rideouts in the dual recently. Gordon’s athleticism can be tough to deal with at heavyweight and he is someone I wouldn’t be shocked to find an upset to get a qualifying spot. With Yonger just recently majoring Elam 13-4, it seems like a finals match between Bastida and Hendrickson is certain. The two both have absurd athleticism to go with high-level skill and have mostly been untouched this year. Hendrickson’s top work and scrambling is an X factor, but Yonger’s speed and neutral ability feels near unmatched. Whoever wins this match is likely to get the two seed at NCAA’s and heavy favorites to make the finals in an incredible potential heavyweight matchup. Bracket Busters: Konner Doucet (Oklahoma State), Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa), Semifinal Projection: Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma); Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs Zach Elam (Missouri) Finals Pick: Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) over Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) Projected Qualifiers: Yonger Bastida, Wyatt Hendrickson, Zach Elam, Konner Doucet, Josh Heindselman

How many times have we heard the saying “All that matters is what happens in March.” Well, March is here and we’re ready to get the part of the season that we’ve all been waiting for. However, while that saying may be true for the history books and what gets remembered most, it’s not completely accurate. What happened throughout the season certainly matters too. It gives us context, storylines, and obviously the seeds. And for this, we are going to look at the regular seasons of the top seeds in each weight class, pull out some key potential rematches, and the matches we didn’t get during the dual meet season. Also, it’s important to point out that Ohio State did not wrestle Iowa or Nebraska this season, however, we did see two big matchups at CKLV when Brock Hardy wrestled Jesse Mendez and Ridge Lovett faced Dylan D’Emilio. (For this I only looked at guys seeded in the top 10 + Brody Teske at 133 who got the 14 seed.) # - seed 125: Matt Ramos (Purdue) Key potential rematches: #2 Drake Ayala (Iowa); #5 Caleb Smith (Nebraska) Most relevant missed meetings: #6 Braeden Davis (Penn State); #7 Michael DeAugustino (Michigan) Summary: Ramos dominated the headlines at the start of the season but not for the reason he wanted. Taking losses to high schooler Marcus Blaze and ACC top seed Jakob Camacho (NC State) probably wasn’t the start he was looking for. He also took losses to Caleb Smith and Nico Provo at CKLV. But since then, he’s held down the fort to finish the regular season as the top-ranked guy at the weight after holding that spot at the beginning as well. Despite how well Ramos has bounced back after the early losses to maintain the No. 1 ranking, this weight still doesn’t have a complete favorite in my opinion. 125 has been a roller coaster the entire year with a number of guys from different conferences being at the top, two of which came from the Big 10. Of the potential rematches that could give the top-seeded Ramos some trouble, it’s the one against Ayala that could come in the finals. 133: Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) Key potential rematches: #3 Nic Bouzakis (Ohio State); #4 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska); #5 Aaron Nagao (PSU) Most relevant missed meetings: #6 Tony Madrigal (Illinois); #7 Braxton Brown (Maryland); #14 Brody Teske Summary: It’s honestly been a dominant year for Ragusin both in redshirt and when he rejoined the lineup at 133. Even though he defeated both Bouzakis and Nagao by bonus points, I still think they are worthy of being listed as big potential rematches, specifically the one with Nagao, who took Ragusin to overtime and was pinned in one of the funkiest ways I’ve ever seen. But the biggest potential rematch is with Van Dee who handed him his lone loss of the season. Van Dee wrestled probably his best match that night and had the home crowd behind him as well. In a neutral setting, things are surely in favor of top-seeded Ragusin if Van Dee gets to the semis to meet him again. 141: Beau Bartlett (PSU) Key potential rematches: #2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State); #3 Real Woods (Iowa); #4 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) Most relevant missed meetings: #6 Danny Pucino (Illinois); #7 Mitch Moore (Rutgers) Summary: This weight class has been ruled by the top four guys the entire year, with a surprise cameo appearance by Michigan’s Sergio Lemley in week 11. Outside of that, the strong wall of Bartlett, Mendez, Woods, and Hardy have held down the conference for most of the season. Those guys should be the last four standing looking to punch their ticket to the finals with an outside chance of Lemley pulling an upset over Hardy. All eyes should be on the 2 vs 3 battle between Mendez and Woods who would be facing off for the first time. 149: Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) Key potential rematches: #2 Austin Gomez (Michigan); #4 Tyler Kasak (PSU) Most relevant missed meeting: #7 Joey Zargo (Wisconsin) Summary: Lovett went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the weight class despite his lone loss coming to ASU Kyle Parco at the end of the regular season. However, the two potential key rematches for him are with Kasak, who he could see in the semis and Gomez in the finals. Gomez is coming off a stellar performance at the Pan Am Olympic Qualifier where he punched his ticket to the Olympics, so expect a supercharged and ultra-confident version of the guy we saw in Lincoln, NE a month ago. And I’m giving Kasak the Cael preparation caveat here. We’ve seen PSU wrestlers adjust the second time around and come out on top before. Obviously, Lovett is still the heavy favorite here, I just know that we’ve seen Kasak look good since gaining some confidence as the season has gone on. 157: Levi Haines (PSU) Key potential rematches: #4 Jared Franek (Iowa); #5 Peyton Robb (Nebraska); #6 Chase Saldate (MSU); #7 Will Lewan (Michigan) Most relevant missed meetings: #2 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota); #8 Joey Blaze (Purdue) Summary: This is the deepest weight at the Big 10 tournament in my opinion. And let me explain why I have so many guys listed here that could (emphasis on ‘could’) be in the way of Haines here. The first two are obvious, Franek and Robb have been top contenders all year. We know what they bring to the table. However, Haines dismantled both this year in impressive fashion. The other two potential rematches are the more intriguing here as both were 1-point decision wins for Haines during the season. Saldate took him to overtime rideouts and Lewan deployed some of his best defense against the returning NCAA runner-up. When it comes to the missed meetings I’ll start with Blaze. We’ve seen him have some peaks and valleys this season. Of note, he pinned Robb, so he can compete at a high level, he could potentially be Haines' first match of the tournament. Secondly, Blockhus earns the #2-seed and is wrestling very well this season. He has a pretty favorable draw and could meet Haines in the finals. 165: Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) Key potential rematches: #3 Michael Caliendo (Iowa); #4 Caleb Fish (MSU); #5 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) Most relevant missed meetings: #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU); #6 Cam Amine (Michigan) Summary: This is going to be a fun weight. Most people believe that Mesenbrink can be on the raised stage at the NCAA Championships. But first is the potential matchup between him and top-seeded Hamiti, who haven’t met yet this year. Hamiti has a great in-conference year going undefeated and will look to do so this weekend to put himself in a great position at NCAAs. His matches with Fish and Taylor were both regular decisions during the year with his match against Fish being a 2-point win. P.S. The potential rematch between Caliendo and Messenbrink will be must-see as well. 174: Carter Starocci (PSU) Key potential rematch: #5 Rocco Welsh (Ohio State) Most relevant missed meetings: #2 Shane Griffith (Michigan); #4 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) Summary: Starocci has been super dominant this season. He has one regular decision win on the year and that came against Welsh a little over a month ago. Welsh could be waiting for Starocci in the semis if he does wrestle after suffering a knee injury to cap off his tech fall in the last regular season dual. On the opposite side of that are the two bouts we didn’t get during the year. First, is the one with Ruth. PSU and Illinois didn’t wrestle this year and there weren’t any other opportunities for them to hit so this could be the first time in their careers they take the mat against each other. And lastly, there is the potential match with fellow NCAA Champ Shane Griffith. During the dual, Griffith showed up, but Starocci sat out with an illness. These two have never met before either with this being Griffith's first time up at 174. 184: Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) Key potential rematch: #2 Lenny Pinto (Nebraska) Most relevant missed meetings: #3 Bernie Truax (PSU); #4 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State); #5 Jaden Bullock (Michigan); #8 Brian Soldano (Rutgers) Summary: For me this is the most interesting weight because top-seeded Salazar has only wrestled one top-five-seeded guy this entire year and that was a 4-1 win over Pinto, who he could see in the finals. After that, there aren’t any other results from this season between Salazar and the field, which is all very close. 197: Aaron Brooks (PSU) Key potential rematch: #2 Zach Glazier (Iowa) Most relevant missed meetings: #5 Garrett Joles (Minnesota); #7 John Poznanski (Rutgers) Summary: Exactly like Starocci, Brooks has one regular decision on the year and that came against Glazier. Of note, Brooks has had 3 matches go the distance this entire season. The only two guys that he hasn’t hit are Joles and Poznanaski. When PSU faced Rutgers, Brooks defeated Mike Toranzo by tech fall as Poznanski had the night off. 285: Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) Most relevant missed meeting: #5 Seth Nevills (Maryland) Summary: It’s not a mistake that the key potential rematches section is missing for Kerkvliet. There really aren’t any. He crushed everyone in his path the entire year. His closest in-conference result was an 8-3 win over third-seeded Lucas Davison. It was one of the three regular decisions that he’s had the entire year. Outside of that, the most intriguing missed match is with his old teammate and partner Seth Nevills, who is now at Maryland with the fifth seed. Kerkvliet pinned Jordan Gabriel when the teams faced off earlier this season.

Big 12 correspondent James Hackney goes bracket-by-bracket through the ten Big 12 weights breaking down all of the key matches, past results, and why wrestlers were seeded where they were.

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.

This is the last EIWA Championships that will include the Ivy League schools. Next season, the Ivies will host their own conference championship tournament. Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Princeton were original founding members in 1905. Cornell joined in 1908, making them the fourth longest-tenured school in the conference. Next season, Lehigh will become the longest-tenured school, joining the EIWA in 1913. Army and Navy each joined in 1941. The Sharks of Long Island University are the newest members of the conference. LIU became a member in 2019. The Mountain Hawks of Lehigh led the conference with a 7-0 record this season. Cornell won the Ivy League Championship for the third straight season. They have won 20 of the last 21 Ivy League titles. This year, the NCAA allocations were generous to the conference. The 2023 total number was 45 at this time. This year’s net total was 53 – an increase of 8. Another way to look at it – almost every weight class gained an extra automatic spot. It’s a good indication of how the conference compares to a year ago. Looking at other conferences, the EIWA had the highest increase from last season. For what it’s worth, the 6 Ivy League schools leaving the conference, starting next year, earned 23 of the 54 spots. Below is a breakdown of each weight class with summaries of results of last season. It will highlight returning NCAA qualifiers from last season, discuss ranked wrestlers at each weight, plus much more. Hopefully, this improves your viewing experience by providing you with some helpful information. 125 This weight class qualified six wrestlers for the 2023 NCAA Championships. Last season, Princeton’s Patrick Glory was crowned EIWA Champion and became the school’s first NCAA Champion in 72 years. With Glory’s departure, this weight class will see a new champion. Five NCAA qualifiers from a season ago are back to try and claim this title. These five include Brett Ungar of Cornell, Diego Sotelo of Harvard, Ethan Berginc of Army, and Nick Babin of Columbia. Jack Maida was an NCAA qualifier last season up at 133 lbs. Ryan Miller of Penn has been replaced by rookie Max Gallagher. He’s been having a great freshman year. Brett Ungar’s round-of-12 finish last season was the best of this group. Lehigh’s freshman phenom, Luke Stanich is the highest-ranked wrestler in the weight class. Stanich and Maida both have very few EIWA matches this season, putting them in unique positions compared to the rest of the bracket who will have plenty of rematches heading into the weekend. Some other names to watch include Drew Heethuis from Princeton, Carson Wagner of Binghamton, Desmond Pleasant of Drexel, Robbie Sagaris of LIU, and Michael Joyce of Brown. The current coaches’ rankings include five wrestlers - Stanich #3, Ungar #15, Sotelo #24, Maida #28, and Berginc #31. With some quality depth to this weight class, it’s very possible someone will not make a return trip to NCAAs this season. With five automatic qualifiers in this weight class, there will be some talented wrestlers looking for one of the six available at-large bids. This will make the semifinals and consolation semifinals vitally important. Prediction: Until proven otherwise, Stanich is the favorite at this weight. I think he will prevail over Ungar in the finals. Ungar seems to have everyone else’s number over the past two seasons. But, the competition he’ll need to beat to make the final is no easy task. Dark Horse Watch: Princeton’s true freshman Drew Heethuis has a win over Nick Babin – who was an NCAA Qualifier last season. Carson Wagner of Binghamton is another true freshman to be on the lookout for. He has a win over Heethuis this season. Plus, I love myself a fellow Northampton Konkrete Kid alum! What to watch for: 7 wrestlers in this bracket have been in the national rankings at some point during the year. There are only 5 automatic spots up for grabs – leaving two very talented guys looking for at-large bids. All of these quarterfinal matchups will be fun to watch. Personally, I believe Gallagher at the 7 seed taking on #2 Ungar will have upset potential. Gallagher is a tough freshman. If we see a Sotelo and Babin quarter, it will be a fun match. Babin is able to pin almost anyone. 2023 Results 1st - Pat Glory, Princeton*** 2nd- Brett Ungar, Cornell* 3rd - Ryan Miller, Penn* 4th - Ethan Berginc, Army West Point* 5th - Nick Babin, Columbia* 6th - Diego Sotelo, Harvard* 7th - Carter Bailey, Lehigh 8th - Mason Leiphart, Franklin & Marshall * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 133 Last year’s champion at this weight was Vito Arujau of Cornell. Like Glory at 125lbs, Arujau went on to become NCAA Champion. He also won a world title over the summer. Including Arujau, there were seven NCAA qualifiers last season from this weight. Unfortunately, Connor McGonagle’s injury did not allow him to compete, so only six ended up participating. Looking to make it to the championships again are Vito Arujau of Cornell, Michael Colaiocco of Penn, Angelo Rini of Columbia, Brendan Ferretti of Navy, and Kurtis Phipps of Bucknell. Lehigh’s undefeated freshman, Ryan Crookham, is the top-ranked wrestler in the nation after knocking off Arujau in November. Mason Leiphart of Franklin & Marshall placed 8th at 125 lbs at last season’s conference championships. He is in the top ten for technical falls this season – so he knows how to put points on the board. Michael Colaiocco was an EIWA Champ in 2022. Kurt Phipps of Bucknell was crowned champion at the Southern Scuffle tournament this year. Angelo Rini has been injured in the second semester, so his EIWA competition during the year is extremely limited. Army’s Braden Basile completes the remainder of ranked wrestlers in the deep weight. Drexel’s John Hildebrandt has wins over Colaiocco and Leiphart. Another wrestler to keep an eye on is Sacred Heart’s best wrestler Andrew Fallon. He’s 13-2 on the year. He has a 50% bonus rate, and both losses are to ranked opponents. Max Leete of American is another tough wrestler at this weight to keep an eye on. Micah Roes of Binghamton has some quality wins and will be a threat to place high on the podium. The coaches’ rankings currently include 7 EIWA wrestlers - Crookham #1, Arujau #3, Colaiocco #12, Phipps #16, Leiphart #29, Basile #30, and Ferretti #33. The top five in this bracket will automatically earn a trip to NCAAs. It appears, as of now, that Basile and Ferretti are the ranked wrestlers on the outside looking in, based solely on rankings. The quarterfinal matchups will be entertaining, but the consolation rounds in this bracket may be more exciting. Get ready for some potential upsets here! Prediction: Crookham and Vito will most likely be the final here. Flip a coin for the winner. Crookham won the first meeting in November, 8-4. Vito is the reigning EIWA and NCAA Champion. His run to achieve this last season was so dominant – it’s hard to look past that. They have each been affected by injuries. Both have wrestled only three matches each in the month of February. Dark Horse Watch: Although, he’s far from a dark horse. Angelo Rini is more of a wild card. He’s ranked 21st in the national rankings. The downfall is the lack of mat time. His last match was a medical forfeit loss at the Soldier Salute a few days before the 2024 calendar year began. How serious will his injury be? If 100%, he will be in the running for a top-5 finish. For reference, in the early part of the season, he had a win over #10 Bouzakis of Ohio State. For a dark horse candidate, Micah Roes is a guy to watch. The Binghamton Bearcat has seen some time in the rankings. He’s seemed to have better results in the second half of the year. He has two wins over Ferretti of Navy, proving he can beat quality wrestlers. What to watch for: We have a similar scenario here as 125lbs. Two ranked wrestlers did not make the cut to automatically qualify a spot. Ferretti was a qualifier last season, he will need to outwrestle his 7th seed to qualify. His first opponent is 10th-seeded Hildebrandt of Drexel. He has wins over Colaiocco and Leiphart this season. Angelo Rini will be the 8th seed. He really throws a wrench into this bracket – giving Crookham a potentially tough matchup during Friday night’s quarterfinal. Of course, Rini has not seen competition since December. He will need to get by Roes of Binghamton (9th seed) in the first round. This may be the best first-round matchup across all weights. I also really like 11th seed Leete of American vs Basile of Army in this round as well. 2023 Results 1st - Vito Arujau, Cornell*** 2nd - Michael Colaiocco, Penn* 3rd - Angelo Rini, Columbia* 4th - Brendan Ferretti, Navy* 5th - Jack Maida, American* 6th - Kyle Waterman, Drexel 7th - Kurtis Phipps, Bucknell*^ 8th - Hunter Adrian, Brown DNP – Connor McGonagle, Lehigh*^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 141 Vince Cornella, of Cornell, was last year’s champion in this weight class. His freshman campaign was cut short after winning one match at NCAAs. Lehigh’s Malyke Hines was an EIWA champion back in 2021 when he was still at 133lbs. Josh Koderhandt of Navy has been an EIWA finalist in the past. He has qualified for “The Big Dance” twice before. Last year, Dylan Chappell of Bucknell was the EIWA runner-up at 149lbs. It’s safe to say this class has a ton of quality talent. Not to mention, CJ Composto is the lone returning All-American in the weight class. He claimed 8th place at 141 lbs at the 2022 NCAA Championships. This was following a runner-up finish at conferences two weeks prior. Hines was also a round-of-12 placer last season, just one win shy of the podium. He has the most NCAA Tournament appearances with three. If you add a guy like Columbia’s Kai Owen, who has a win by fall over #6 Cael Happel of Northern Iowa – this weight class is very competitive. Interestingly, there are only three returning placers from this weight last year back in the bracket this season. Under the radar guys would include Jordan Soriano of Drexel, Tyler Vasquez of Princeton, Pat Phillips of F&M, and Harvard’s Michael Jaffe. Looking at coaches’ rankings, the EIWA has 5 ranked wrestlers – Cornella #12, Koderhandt #13, Hines #17, Composto #18, and Owen #t-32. The top four will earn automatic bids for NCAAs. The potential semifinals for this weight class will be very entertaining, as the top four are so close to one another in the national rankings. Winning this bracket could give the champion a top-10 seed at NCAAs, putting them in a great position to go on a run and earn a spot on the podium. Prediction: Cornella’s injured knee is pretty evident. How much will it hinder his performance? Koderhandt has one loss this semester to returning All-American, McNeil of UNC. He’s been looking great. I’ll take him to win it all. Dark Horse Watch: I like Michael Jaffe of Harvard here. He’s a senior who only wrestled the second semester. He was up big against Composto in a dual but ended up losing the match. He has the potential to beat some of the higher seeds. Coincidentally, he will have Composto in the first round to avenge his earlier loss. What to watch for: The top 4 seeds all have a legit chance of winning this bracket. Dylan Chappell at the 7th seed is something to look out for. He was the runner-up at 149 lbs last season. Cornella suffered a knee injury that looked somewhat serious at the end of January – causing him to miss a few weeks. These two circumstances can make this quarterfinal match-up interesting. Phillips and Soriano will face each other for a third time in the first round. Phillips won the first two meetings. 2023 Results 1st - Vince Cornella, Cornell* 2nd - Carmen Ferrante, Penn* 3rd - Josh Koderhandt, Navy* 4th - Malyke Hines, Lehigh* 5th - Matt Kazimir, Columbia* 6th - Darren Miller, Bucknell 7th - Justin Hoyle, Hofstra 8th - Julian Sanchez, Army * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 149 This bracket will be wildly compelling, as none of the returning podium winners return for action this season. Yianni Diakomihalis claimed his fourth EIWA and NCAA title last season. Leading the way with the top seed this year will be his replacement, Ethan Fernandez of Cornell. He’s been undefeated in EIWA competition thus far. Eligh Rivera of Princeton has had a fine freshman year, as did Lehigh’s pinning machine Kelvin Griffin. Matthew Williams of Army is a senior putting together a nice campaign. Jack Crook from Harvard is in the mix too. He has wins over Williams and Rivera, making him a threat to place high. Two freshmen can bust this bracket open. Penn’s Jude Swisher spent half the season at 157 lbs, before coming down to 149 lbs in the beginning of February. He has a fall over Crook, plus some quality wins up at 157 lbs. The other freshman to keep an eye on is Hofstra’s Noah Tapia. His signature win on the season is over Oklahoma State’s Jordan Williams – who was ranked #14 at the time. The coaches’ rankings only include three EIWA wrestlers at the moment – Fernandez #21, Swisher #28, and Rivera #31. The NCAA allocated four automatic bids for this weight class. With the seven names mentioned above, it’s easy to see multiple people may be left home when all 33 qualifiers are announced for this weight. Last season, this weight class only had two automatic qualifiers with one at-large bid selection. Once again, this weight class is one of the least deep weights in the conference. Prediction: Looking at how the seeds turned out, I would argue the two highest-ranked wrestlers will be on the same side of the bracket. Fernandez and Swisher will meet in the semis. I think the winner of this match takes the title. Fernandez had a one-point win over Swisher. I think Swisher avenges the loss to take the EIWA crown. Griffin is dangerous on the bottom half of the bracket. But, Williams of Army has beaten him twice this season already. Dark Horse Watch: I like two freshmen. Dom Findora of Drexel has 21 wins on the year. Noah Tapia of Hofstra is an option here too with 20 wins. He has a win over #18 Jordan Williams of Oklahoma State. Findora won the head-to-head match-up. This bracket will only qualify 4 wrestlers, so they will need to pull off a few wins here to qualify for the national tournament. What to watch for: As mentioned, there is not a ton of depth here. Unfortunately, my two darkhorses will square off in the first round. Rivera, Crook, and Smith are all very capable of earning at-large bids if needed – assuming they do not knock off any higher seeds. I would not count that out as a possibility. The quarterfinal matchups could be entertaining, especially Smith and Williams. Who does not love watching Army and Navy battle it out!? Griffin and Crook could be an interesting match as well. 2023 Results 149 – 2 Automatic Qualifiers, 1 At-Large Selection ** 1st - Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell*** 2nd - Dylan Chappell, Bucknell* 3rd - Doug Zapf, Penn*^ 4th - Trae McDaniel, Army 5th - Luke Nichter, Drexel 6th - Danny Fongaro, Columbia 7th - Max Brignola, Lehigh 8th - Marshall Keller, Princeton * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 157 Cornell’s freshman phenom Meyer Shapiro leads the way at this weight. Since his two losses at the CKLV Invite in early December, he’s been nearly untouchable. He has over 19 wins on the year, only five of those wins were by decision. Interestingly, three of those five wins came from conference opponents. Lucas Revano of Penn was one of them. Revano has been a multiple-time EIWA place winner at 165 lbs and qualified for NCAAs once in that span. Lehigh’s Max Brignola is also a multiple-time place finisher, and one-time NCAA qualifier. The final former qualifier is Nate Lukez of Army. Drexel’s Tyler Williams is one of two returning placers from this weight class a year ago, along with Lukez. Blake Saito of Brown and Rocco Camillaci of Princeton each have a win over Williams this season. At least on paper, the top four are pretty set. The remainder of the guys may be battling for the 5th through 8th podium spots. LIU’s Rhise Royster was one of the opponents to not be majored, or worse, by Shapiro. Expect him to potentially stir things up in this bracket. Also keep an eye on guys like Jonathan Ley of Navy, Jaden Le of Columbia, and Jimmy Harrington of Harvard. The coaches’ rankings show 3 EIWA wrestlers – Shapiro #6, Brignola #20, and Revano #25. We will only see three automatic bids to NCAAs here. It appears Lukez just missed the cut line for an auto bid. There is potential to have a fourth via at-large selection for whomever earns that placement. It will always depend on how the bracket shapes up over the weekend – and across the country. Prediction: Shapiro is the favorite here. The bigger question is – who he will face in the finals? If seeds hold, a Revano vs Brignola rubber match semi-final will be exciting. Shapiro has decision wins over both opponents during the year. Dark Horse Watch: Tyler Williams of Drexel went on an impressive run last season at EIWA’s when he earned 8th place as a 12 seed. He’s made a run before, why not again? With a minimal amount of automatic qualifiers, he’ll need to have more than one upset. Although Harrington is seeded 7th, he may be someone who overperforms his seed and places high enough for an automatic bid. What to watch for: There are not many allocations here. It looks like Army’s 4th seed, Nate Lukez, will need to wrestle above his seed to earn an automatic allocation to make a return trip to NCAAs. A majority of these first-round matches will be great, as many of these wrestlers have beaten each other over the course of the season. Clark of Hofstra with the 6 seed against Williams of Drexel at 11th seed is a rematch from this season where Williams won. Another first-round match I like is Camillaci of Princeton versus Harrington of Harvard. Camillaci won the previous meeting in sudden victory. 2023 Results 1st - Josh Humphreys, Lehigh** 2nd - Anthony Artalona, Penn* 3rd - Nathan Lukez. Army* 4th - Trevor Tarsi, Harvard 5th - Nick Delp, Bucknell 6th - Jack Nies, American 7th - Ty Whalen, Princeton 8th - Tyler Williams, Drexel DNP - Cesar Alvan, Columbia *^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 165 This weight class seems to be one of the deepest weights every year. This year is no different. Last year’s champion, Julian Ramirez, is back to defend his title. His season came to a heartbreaking end when he lost in the bloodround at NCAAs. Brevin Cassella of Binghamton is looking to qualify for NCAAs once again. Andrew Cerniglia is up at a new weight for Navy. He’s been a place winner at 157 lbs and has stormed onto the scene as of late this season. Bucknell’s Southern Scuffle Champion, Noah Mulvaney, is looking for his first NCAA trip after an impressive start to his career. Army’s Gunner Filipowicz is looking to become a first-time qualifier as a freshman. Lehigh’s Jake Logan placed 8th at 174 lbs last season at conferences. He’s hovered around the .500 mark all year – but his recent win over Mulvaney is a quality one. Other names to look out for include Drexel’s Cody Walsh and Blaine Bergey of Princeton. Columbia’s Kyle Mosher has been hot the second half of the year as well. Expect some fireworks here. With a late substitution, Harvard will utilize Cael Berg in lieu of last year’s NCAA qualifier, Josh Kim. Penn’s Kaya Sement has been replaced by Adam Thomson also. Looking at the coaches rankings, the EIWA is well represented with 7 wrestlers – Ramirez #3, Cassella #15, Cerniglia #17, Mulvaney #19, Filipowicz #21, Logan #31, and Walsh #33. There are only five automatic bids this season – leaving two ranked wrestlers on the outside looking in. Last year’s bracket ended with six NCAA qualifiers. This year has the same potential. With deep brackets like this one, the quarterfinals and wrestle-backs will be exciting with so much on the line early on. Prediction: It’s pretty self-explanatory as to why Julian Ramirez is the favorite. He’s the returning champion and ranked #3 nationally at the moment. His likely finals opponent can be either Cassella of Binghamton or Cerniglia of Navy. Dark Horse Watch: Kyle Mosher of Columbia is sneaky 10-seed. His first-round match with Logan may be a toss-up. Mosher has been wrestling well the last half of the season. Blaine Bergey is a guy who can catch fire out of the 12th seed spot too. Adam Thomson is last minute addition, being thrown in at the 15th seed. He represents Team Canada on the freestyle scene, so he has some skills that should be taken seriously in folkstyle. What to watch for: With only 5 automatic bids to NCAAs, there will be major talent not making the cut and relying on an at-large bid. As of now, both Walsh and Logan are on the outside looking in. Keep an eye out for Logan at the 7 seed. We’ve seen him beat Mulvaney, so Cassella better be ready for a tough match-up. 2023 Results 1st – Julian Ramirez, Cornell* 2nd – Quincy Monday, Princeton** 3rd – Josh Ogunsanya, Columbia* 4th – Brevin Cassella, Binghamton* 5th – Josh Kim, Harvard* 6th – Dalton Harkins, Army 7th – Lucas Revano, Penn 8th – Evan Barczak, Drexel*^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 174 This is another deep weight class. This year’s bracket contains two former EIWA champions, Phil Conigliaro of Harvard and Ben Pasiuk of Army. Conigliaro won at 165 lbs in 2022. Pasiuk was a champion at 174 lbs in 2021. Conigliaro finished in the Round of 12 that season, while Pasiuk’s highest placement at NCAAs is a top-16 finish. Penn’s Nick Incontrera has been very solid all year, being ranked inside the top 10 nearly all season. Navy’s freshman, Danny Wask, is wrestling at a high level inside and outside of the conference. Expect him to be in the mix for the top four. Lennox Wolak of Columbia was 3rd place in last year’s bracket. He will look for another podium finish and a trip to NCAAs. Myles Takats of Bucknell is having a great freshman year with over 20 wins. Hofstra’s veteran, Ross McFarland, is a name to know as well. He was 7th in the bracket a season ago. Franklin & Marshall’s Noah Fox has a win over McFarland, as does LIU’s Chris Connolly. Other names to watch include Dimitri Gamkrelidze of Binghamton, Jack Janda of Drexel, Connor Herceg of Lehigh, Lucas White of American, and Jonathan Conrad of Brown. Cornell’s Benny Baker has come on strong as of late. Many of these guys have beaten each other, so they are all in the mix to find the podium. The coaches’ rankings have a healthy number of EIWA representatives with 5 ranked wrestlers – Conigliaro #5, Incontrera #7, Pasiuk #12, Wolak #14, and Wask #26. In terms of automatic qualifiers, expect the six in the bracket to move onto The Big Dance. This will be a fun bracket to watch, with many rematches from earlier in the year that could have gone either way. There will be some great first-round matches here, and there will be plenty of battles just to make the podium. Prediction: The top two here are Incontrera and Conigliaro. Conigliaro has already been an EIWA champion in years past. He won the only matchup this year between them in a tight bout. This is essentially a coin flip, assuming they both meet in the finals. I have a gut feeling Penn will make the adjustments and Incontrera will win the rematch. The winner of this bout will be in the driver’s seat for a top-8 NCAA seed once brackets are released. Dark Horse Watch: There are a handful of dark horse options at this weight. Based on recency bias, Benny Baker makes the most sense. He has a recent win over #31 Faison of NC State. After that, he beat a tough Gamkrelidze of Binghamton, who wrestles everyone close. Lehigh’s Connor Herceg has a win over Baker in their dual meet matchup. This will be a fun bracket to see who steps up. With 5 ranked wrestlers and 6 automatic bids – it will be an entertaining battle for an automatic spot. What to watch for: The first of the opening round match-ups I love here is Fox and Gamkrekidze. Takats and McFarland is the other one to keep an eye on. The assumed Wask and Pasiuk quarterfinal match will be a good one. The two EIWA champions will be on the same side of the bracket. Conigliaro and Pasiuk would be a matchup worth watching if it occurs. 2023 Results 1st - Chris Foca, Cornell** 2nd - Benjamin Pasiuk, Army* 3rd - Lennox Wolak, Columbia* 4th - Philip Conigliaro, Harvard* 5th - Sammy Starr, Navy 6th - Nick Incontrera, Penn*^ 7th - Ross McFarland, Hofstra 8th - Jake Logan, Lehigh DNP – Mickey O’Malley, Drexel*^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 184 The deep brackets continue at this weight. Chris Foca of Cornell was an All-American last season after a 3rd place finish at NCAAs while at 174l bs. He’s bumped up to 184 lbs and maintained a top-10 ranking all season. Columbia’s Aaron Ayzerov seems to have Foca’s number, beating him twice this season. He’s looking to be an NCAA qualifier for the first time. Last year’s runner-up, Jacob Nolan of Binghamton, has been to NCAAs three times already, finishing in the top-16 a year ago. James Conway of Franklin & Marshall claims the most overall wins on the year with 26. Penn’s Max Hale and Princeton’s Nate Dugan are each in the podium hunt as well – as both wrestlers find themselves in the rankings. Navy’s David Key has had a quiet year, but he’s a two-time NCAA qualifier. He will be ready to go for the postseason. Bucknell’s sophomore, Mikey Bartush, has had a nice season thus far. Expect him to be in the mix for the top eight. Anthony D’Alesio of LIU has a win over Conway and has put together a strong second half of the season. Leo Tarantino of Harvard will find himself in the mix as well. His win over All-American, Gavin Kane of North Carolina, in January is a sign he can win over quality opponents. The coaches’ rankings include a healthy number of 6 wrestlers – Foca #7, Nolan #13, Hale #19, Ayzerov #20, Dugan #21, and Conway #23. With so many EIWA wrestlers in the rankings, there will be 7 auto bids to NCAAs. From the quarterfinals and on, expect some tightly contested matches with so much at stake. Prediction: It’s hard to go against the returning All-American in Chris Foca. The Cornell stud was at 174 lbs last season where he finished 1st at EIWAs and 3rd at NCAAs. He just can’t seem to find a way to overcome Columbia’s Aaron Ayzerov. Interestingly, Ayzerov has beaten Foca twice this season. We can see a third match between them if Ayzerov wins in the quarters. The bottom half has a handful of options for finalists. Nolan earned the sixth seed, while being the highest ranked behind Foca. He will be my pick. Dark Horse Watch: LIU’s Anthony D’Alesio may be someone to bust this bracket. He has a win over F&M’s Conway when he was ranked top 20. An overtime loss to Nolan is impressive too. Showing a little bias, it would be awesome to see D’Alesio be LIU’s first D1 NCAA qualifier. As mentioned, Harvard’s Tarantino has a quality win over a returning All-American. Do not count him out. What to watch for: Another seven versus ten match-up is on my list here. D’Alesio is a dangerous 10 seed. His first-round opponent in Bartush of Bucknell has an overtime win against him. If D’Alesio can win that, he would have Conway in the quarterfinals – whom he has a win over already. If you are LIU, you have to like his path to a semifinal match. If seeds stick, the quarter match-ups between Dugan and Nolan, and Hale and Ayzerov will be great wrestling with a trip to NCAAs on the line. 2023 Results 1st - Tate Samuelson, Lehigh* 2nd - Jacob Nolan, Binghamton* 3rd - David Key, Navy* 4th - Brian Bonino, Drexel* 5th - Nate Dugan, Princeton 6th - Jacob Ferreira, Hofstra*^ 7th - James Conway, Franklin & Marshall 8th - Aaron Ayzerov, Columbia * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 197 The 197lbs weight class in the EIWA is the most impressive, many would argue, in terms of both quantity and quality. Three All-Americans lead the charge here between Michael Beard of Lehigh, Jacob Cardenas of Cornell, and Lou DePrez of Binghamton. Beard was an All-American in 2021 while at Penn State. He was a victim of the infamous bloodround last year. DePrez was an All-American during the 2021 season and has lost in the Round of 12 twice. DePrez’s story has been unique, as he started the season on staff. He became eligible for one more semester thanks to a medical redshirt after a season-ending injury last year. Cardenas earned a podium finish last season when he was 8th at NCAAs. He followed that up with a world title at the U23 championships over the summer. He will look to defend his title as EIWA Champion. This top-heavy bracket is still full of quality wrestlers after these three. Luke Stout of Princeton has been ranked in the top 15 nationally all season. He’s been an NCAA qualifier twice before. Also looking to return to The Big Show is Penn’s Cole Urbas. His long and lengthy style can cause fits for wrestlers. John Crawford from Franklin & Marshall has good wins under his belt. Expect him to be in the run to qualify for NCAAs, which would be his first trip. Last year’s 6th-place finisher was Jack Wehmeyer of Columbia. He is ready to make some noise and become an NCAA qualifier for the first time also. Bucknell’s Logan Deacetis will be in this same boat as well. The coaches’ rankings have many EIWA wrestlers – 7 to be exact – Beard #3, DePrez #7, Cardenas #8, Stout #12, Urbas #26, Crawford #29, Wehmeyer #30. This will be another weight where most of the podium will qualify you for NCAAs. There are six automatic bids up for grabs, but a 7th place finish could earn an at-large bid. We will see how the cards fall, but the depth of the bracket makes it one to keep a close eye on! Prediction: Michael Beard of Lehigh has beaten everyone else in the conference handily this season. He should be the favorite until proven otherwise. His finals opponent will most likely be Lou DePrez of Binghamton or Jacob Cardenas of Cornell. DePrez won the regular season matchup between them. For what it’s worth, Cardenas was the EIWA champ last year after avenging a loss to Beard in the finals. This year, Cardenas will need to avenge two losses to reclaim the EIWA title. Dark Horse Watch: I’ve been a Cael Crebs fan before he stepped onto Navy’s campus. He’s battled injury this year, which reflects on his 7-8 record. Assuming he can come into EIWAs healthy, he is able to go on a run. He’s tough on top and long – which may cause fits for some of the 197lbs wrestlers. I like his opportunity to be a double-digit seed on the podium when it’s all said and done. What to watch for: The top four in this weight class are a tier above the rest. I do not foresee too much bracket-busting, unfortunately. The likely quarter between Urbas and Stout has been a recurring theme – however, Stout has won all four career matches. Will we see a rematch of last year’s final in Beard and Cardenas? 2023 Results 1st - Jacob Cardenas, Cornell** 2nd - Michael Beard, Lehigh* 3rd -Luke Stout, Princeton* 4th - Jacob Koser, Navy* 5th - Trey Rogers, Hofstra* 6th - Jack Wehmeyer, Columbia 7th - Sean O`Malley, Drexel* 8th - Daniel Lawrence, Army DNP – Cole Urbas, Penn*^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion 285 The big boys make an argument that the EIWA is the deepest conference at heavyweight across the nation. The conference’s 8 automatic qualifiers are good enough proof to make this claim – as it is more than any other conference. Last year’s champ, Grady Griess of Navy, returns this year. In order to defend his crown, he will have a tough path with such a loaded bracket. Nathan Taylor of Lehigh has been a force this season while beating everyone in the conference he’s faced. Binghamton’s Cory Day is looking to return to NCAAs once again. His skillset on top is what separates him from most heavyweights. Speaking of top wrestling, the same can be said about Cornell’s Lewis Fernandes. He has won a lot of close matches in his career thanks to his mat wrestling ability. Keaton Kluever is new to the conference. The Hofstra heavyweight has an early season win over Fernandes. He will make his EIWA Championship debut, and possibly, NCAA championships debut. Bucknell’s Dorian Crosby has competed at NCAAs before, as has Matt Cover of Princeton. Freshman, Lucas Stoddard of Army, has wins over both of them. He is one to watch as well, making his first EIWA Championships appearance. William Jarrell of American has had a nice season also. He knocked off Campbell’s Ghadiali in a dual, who was ranked 8th at the time in the national rankings. John Stout of Penn has been coming on strong at the end of the year. He may be someone who can earn his way onto the podium. The coaches’ rankings include 8 EIWA wrestlers. Considering they rank 33, the conference makes up a quarter of the rankings at this weight. EIWA ranked wrestlers include Taylor #t-7, Day #14, Griess #15, Fernandes #17, Kluever #19, Stoddard #24, Crosby #25, and Cover #28. All 8 place-finishers on the podium will advance to NCAAs. Because of this, the conference will have a 9th place wrestle off for the first time in history. A wrestler finishing one spot outside of the automatic allocation placement goes a long way for the at-large selection process. Expect the four wrestlers that lose in the second round of wrestlebacks (bloodround) to be placed in a single elimination bracket on Saturday. The winner of this mini bracket will earn 9th place. This is an added wrinkle to this year’s conference tournament. Prediction: Nathan Taylor has made vast improvements since last year. He is a legit All-American threat. He’s beaten all other heavyweights in the conference during the year. He will be the favorite. Binghamton’s Cory Day and Grady Griess may be slight favorites over the field to face Taylor. Griess was last year’s EIWA champion, but Day has two wins over him thus far. This is a deep weight, so assuming one of them makes the finals may be a stretch. Dark Horse Watch: Columbia’s Vincent Mueller should be considered a potential dark horse threat. He has a late-season win over American’s Jarrell. Jarrell was in the coaches’ rankings thanks to a win over #8 Ghadiali of Campbell in January. Mueller’s lone losses in the conference are to Stoddard and Crosby – both of whom are ranked in the nation. This is a very deep weight, so expect some tight matches early on. What to watch for: For the first time in EIWA history, the conference will wrestle for 9th place. Since the top-8 advance to NCAAs, there needs to be an alternate in case there’s an injury, disqualification, etc. Plus, the 9th-place finisher has better odds of earning an at-large bid since the final placement in the conference is just one spot outside the allotted auto-bid placement. In the early round, Jarrell and Crosby will be good. Both guys have seen the national rankings at one point this season. Crosby won the dual during the year 7-2. I expect the two middle quarters to be great. Kluever vs Fernandes is a rematch from November that Kluever won via fall. Stoddard and Griess is a classic Army vs Navy battle. Griess is the returning EIWA champ and defeated Stoddard in overtime when they met in mid-February. It’s worth repeating how deep this bracket is. This was a historic year for the conference at the 285lbs weight class. 2023 Results 1st - Grady Griess, Navy* 2nd - Nathan Taylor, Lehigh* 3rd - Yaraslau Slavikouski, Harvard* 4th - Ben Goldin, Penn* 5th - Cory Day, Binghamton* 6th - Dorian Crosby, Bucknell* 7th - Brendan Furman, Conell* 8th - Austin Kohlhofer, Army DNP – Travis Stefanik, Princeton*^ * denotes NCAA Qualifier *^ denotes NCAA Qualifier via At-Large Bid ** denotes NCAA All-American *** denotes NCAA Champion Team Looking to defend the team title is Cornell University. The Big Red scored 165.5 team points at the 2023 EIWA Championships with six individual champions. The team race is most likely Cornell’s to lose, barring anything crazy happening. If the race plays out similar to last year, it will be locked up after the first day. Last year’s runner-up was Lehigh with 120.5 points. Penn was third with 106. Columbia and Navy tied for fourth with 95 points each. Cornell will look to three-peat as EIWA Champions after winning the team title at EIWA’s in 2022 as well. These same teams will be in the hunt for the top-5. Army will be a new team to discuss. They finished in 6th last year. They have some more firepower this year after earning a top-25 team ranking to conclude the season. Binghamton is ready to make a top-5 run as well. They have a ton of talent in the upper weights. If their lightweights can pull some upsets, it could help the Bearcats break through.

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

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.

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: