125:
Stevo Poulin viral fame
Lilledahl trying to break the Suriano curse, also not trying to be PSU’s 2nd straight true freshman #1 seed not to AA
Matt Ramos still looking for a title after one of the biggest upsets of all-time
Potential for Strickenberger/Spratley round 3 and what the celebration would be
133:
Braeden Davis probably considered PSU’s biggest risk to getting 10 AA’s
Ayala/Noto potential matchup of 2nd and 3rd placers last year in the second round
Potential for Byrd/Ayala rematch. Also Byrd has a really tall girlfriend
141:
Returning champ Alirez as the 8 seed
Potential for Bartlett/Mendez again
AJ Rallo (and Devan Hendricks at 184) first qualifiers for Bellarmine
Todd Carter at #13 is Gardner Webb’s highest seed since 2006. Not sure when their last AA was
149:
Henson trying to repeat
The pigtail features the guys with the least (Travis) and most (Denkins) matches
Sammy Alvarez trying to follow in Quinn Kinner’s footsteps and AA after transferring from the Power 5 to Rider
157:
Teemer/Shapiro another potential round 2 matchup of returning 2nd and 3rd placers
Kasak/Shapiro potential battle of concussion sufferers
Hipolito always exciting
Potential Blaze/Kasak matchup with Blaze’s brother being a future teammate of Kasak
165:
Mesenbrink/Mulvaney both AWA guys
Julian Ramirez 3x R12 with some great career wins, can he break through
Potential matchup of former teammates with Mesenbrink/Barraclaugh, first round matchup of current/former Iowa guys Caliendo and Riggins. Former Hawkeye Drake Rhodes also in the bracket
Andrew Sparks didn’t start wrestling until high school
174:
Potential rematches of O’Toole/Haines or O’Toole/Hamiti
Likely Haines/Hamiti semi pitting Taylor’s current pupil vs an old one
Kennedy looking for his first AA finish after going R16 then R12
Multiple former AA’s seeded in the 20’s in Wolak (24) and Turley (29)
Tyler Brennan situation…
184:
Obvious story of Starocci going for 5. Potential rematches with either Keckeisen or McEnelly. Can McEnelly take out Keckeisen?
Unlikely to see the long-awaited Starocci/Arnold match but it’s possible
33 seed McDonnell had lost a bunch of matches in a row before winning Pac 12’s
197:
What will AJ look like against top 5 competition? Will he wrestle back if he loses?
Potential Stout/Stout match in round 2
How healthy is Barr? Can Beard win a rematch against his former team (but not former teammate)
Will Buchanan become Iowa’s first high profile transfer to win a title? (He is also one of Iowa’s best chances to continue their long finalist streak)
285:
Does anyone have a chance against Gable? Who out of Hendrickson/Kerk (most likely) gets to the finals against him?
Heindselman trying to follow in Davison’s footsteps of an impressive finish from a heavyweight transferring to Michigan
After showing promise in previous years with big wins, Pitzer didn’t have a great regular season but then won ACC’s, can he continue the momentum?
Can Kueter continue his momentum from B10’s?
Owen Trephan undefeated after transferring from NC State mid season