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Cinderella Watch in the Quarters: 125- Cardinale (28) vs. Ramos (4) 125- Ventresca (27) vs. Cronin (3) 149- Rooks (20) vs. SVN (12) 165- Fish (29) vs. Monday (5) True Freshman Watch in the Quarters: 157- Cardenas (6) vs. Robb (3) 157- Haines (2) vs. Andonian (7)

PSU (7) Missouri (6) Iowa (5) Nebraska (5) VT (5) ASU (4) Minnesota (3) Cornell (3) Michigan (3) Ohio State (3)

I believe #2 Haines (157) and #6 Cardenas (157) are the only true freshmen in the quarterfinals. Haines will face #7 Andonian, and Cardenas will face #3 Robb. #13 Mendez (133) and #4 Henson (149) are still alive in the consolation bracket.

So the wrestlers in the quarters who were seeded 20+ are: 125- Cardinale (28) 125- Ventresca (27) 149- Rooks (20) 165- Fish (29) The rest of the quarterfinalists are seeded 12 or higher.

197: Smith (11) Braunagel (12)

174: Brands (11)

165: Amine (11) Fish (29)

149: SVN (12) Rooks (20)

It'll be super tough for him to get there, but it's certainly possible.

Reportedly, RBY plans to compete for a world team spot this year. Not clear on what weight he is targeting. At any rate, sounds good to me! He is such a talent.

DT has two Hodges, which is enough for tier one IMO.

Personally I would put the best PSU wrestlers in tiers: Tier 1: DT, Zain, Ruth, Nolf, Bo, McCoy Tier 2: Wright, Joseph, Matter, Prescott, N. Lee Tier 3: Hall, Nico Tier 4: a bunch of guys RBY, Starocci, Brooks, and Dean are still active so I'll wait until they're done. Also, the tiers are not meant to be dismissive of anyone. All those guys are incredibly good wrestlers. Finally, in terms of overall careers -- to include freestyle -- I think DT is in a class by himself.

Nobody knows how things would have shaken out in 2020. But he was fully capable of winking it all. At any rate 2020 was Brooks’s true freshman year—the year many others redshirted.

125 is the weight class where you most often see forfeits. But it can be a tough weight. 133 is often a tough weight—including this year. RBY is a 2x champ. Fix is a world silver medalist and 3x runner up. Vito is a Pan Am champ and junior silver medalist. Etc.

Both Starocci and Brooks are already two timers. Their legacies are secured. Does anybody know what they plan to do after college? RBY too? Bo gives them a map for pursuing MMA. But I hope they choose freestyle. I think all three of them are either world class, or not far from it. (I suspect RBY could medal right now.) One difficulty with freestyle would be the possibility that Brooks and Starocci both compete at 86kg. Of course, Starocci looks good at his current weight. Hopefully cutting down or bulking up doesn’t affect him too much.

Lee is a singularity. But there will be other greats in the future.

In my opinion, this video doesn’t look great for Iowa.

First, I don’t know anyone who adds ostarine to their drinks. Second, if a family member of an ostarine drinker would face repercussions for accidentally drinking it, wouldn’t it make sense to label the ostarine drinks?

Lewis is a junior world champ and NCAA champ. I’d say he’s as legit as a college wrestler can be.

Is there some historical reason for there being 33 NCAA qualifiers per weight? Seems like 32 would make more sense.

Who will fill those spots? At 125, Robbie Howard is injured I assume, and Steen returns. Not sure what's going on with 133 and 197.

Things I'd like to see: Ranking tournaments that factor into NCAA seeds Step out rule Stand ups after one minute of riding with no points scored Riding time serves only as a tiebreaker (which means no more OT)

In the past, Nick Amushastegui, 3x AA, had a high GPA from Stanford in mechanical engineering. Eric Tannenbaum, 4xAA out of Michigan, was obviously doing something right because he's now an orthopedic surgeon. Are any current college wrestlers excelling on both the mat and the classroom?

Who's the best true freshman of 2023? Some options: Jesse Mendez (14-6) Caleb Henson (21-3) Levi Haines (23-1) Daniel Cardenas (22-1)

Who is your most underrated wrestler of 2023?