2x NCAA All-American Mike Labriola (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
Next is…
Mikey Labriola (Nebraska)
Weight: 174 lbs
Year: Junior
Career Record: 67-21
Hometown: Easton, Pennsylvania
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 3rd Place, 2021 Big Ten 3rd Place, 2020 NWCA 2nd Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 6th Place
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #3rd at 174 lbs
From the hometown of Nebraska Associate Head Coach Bryan Snyder, Mike Labriola was one of the top-five recruits in the high school Class of 2017. Labriola was a two-time Pennsylvania state champion and undefeated as a senior and ranked number one in the nation by InterMat.
Year one in Lincoln saw Labriola take a redshirt. During his 17 bouts that season, Labriola flashed the potential that made him such a highly sought-after recruit. Labriola was victorious at the season-opening Daktronics Open and picked up a 7-3 win over returning national qualifier David Kocer (South Dakota State). Kocer would go on to finish seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championships later that season.
Two open's later, Labriola would post another excellent win. During his tear through the Bob Smith Open, Labriola defeated Oklahoma State's starter, Jacobe Smith. Once again, Smith would end up on the 2018 NCAA podium, losing to Kocer in the seventh-place bout.
Labriola carried a spotless record into the Midlands Championships, where he picked up another couple of wins versus national qualifiers (Johnny Sebastian - Northwestern and Joey Gunther - Iowa). At the Midlands, Labriola suffered his only two losses of the year, both coming at the hands of Dylan Lydy (Purdue). The pair would go on to face each other numerous times in the next two seasons. Labriola ended up fourth at the tournament.
After the collegiate season, Labriola took second place at both the UWW Junior Open and the Junior World Team Trials.
Labriola's first official season with the Cornhuskers started the same way his redshirt year began. With a bunch of bonus point wins at the Daktronics Open, combined with an impressive win over a proven veteran. This time, Labriola spoiled Devin Skatzka's Minnesota debut with a 10-5 victory.
The first time Labriola tasted defeat in a Nebraska singlet took place in his fourth dual when he was upset by Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), who pinned him right before the final buzzer sounded in the third period.
Though Labriola entered the year with a lofty ranking, he justified this by finishing fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. His only true loss of the event came in the semifinals to Myles Amine (Michigan), in a bout that saw both teams' crowds almost engage in a wrestling match in the stands. In Vegas, Labriola picked up wins over national qualifiers Lorenzo de la Riva (North Dakota State) and Spencer Carey (Navy).
Down the stretch, Labriola fared about as well as could be expected for a freshman during a schedule that consisted mainly of Big Ten squads. Labriola won 10 of his final 12 duals, with his only losses coming to Mark Hall (Penn State) and Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa). Some of his better wins during that span include Daniel Bullard (NC State), Ethan Smith (Ohio State), and Skatzka.
Unfortunately for Labriola, Skatzka got his revenge at the Big Ten Championships. He picked up two wins over the Cornhusker, the second of which came in the third place bout. One notable win was over Lydy, who accounted for both of his losses during his redshirt campaign.
A fourth place showing at his first B1G tournament was good enough for the tenth seed at the 2019 NCAA Championships. That set up a rematch with Bullard in the opening round. Though Bullard closed the gap a bit (13-4 to 7-5), Labriola still came out on top and advanced to the Round of 16. Waiting there was another familiar face, #7 Jacobe Smith. Though history was on Labriola's side, his 7-5 win over Smith was deemed an upset.
The Smith win pushed Labriola into the quarterfinals against second-seeded Daniel Lewis (Missouri). The four-time All-American showed why he was special and pinned Labriola in the second period. For a place on the podium, Labriola had to go through….his old friend Lydy. The freshman was able to outlast the veteran 4-3 in tiebreaks to clinch a spot in the top-eight.
Next up was another frequent combatant, Skatzka. This time it was Labriola's match, 7-5. He'd drop his final two bouts of the year (Myles Amine - Michigan and David McFadden - Virginia Tech) to finish in sixth place. As a freshman, he led Nebraska with 14 bonus point wins.
Like his freshman season, Labriola started year two with an early loss. This time it came to Lehigh's All-American Jordan Kutler. Two weeks later, he also had a close defeat at the hands of Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa).
Labriola was able to build upon his 2019 CKLV Invitational as he moved up a step on the podium as a sophomore. Amazingly enough, he was the victim of a sudden victory loss to Lydy and chalked up another one against Skatzka.
In late January, Labriola had a rough stretch where he felt back-to-back losses to the top-two wrestlers in the nation (Mark Hall - Penn State and Michael Kemerer - Iowa).
In another crazy twist, Labriola lost five matches during the remainder of the 2019-20 season. Three of them came to Skatzka, while two went to Lydy! Like the 2019 Big Ten Championships, Skatzka got to Labriola twice and he would end up in sixth place.
Though he was two spots lower on the Big Ten podium, Labriola still received the tenth seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships. Of course, that tournament was not held due to the spread of Covid.
Had he competed, Labriola was slated to meet #23 Dean Sherry (Oklahoma) in the opening round. A win could have set up yet another match with #7 Skatzka. Other high seeds on his half of the bracket included #2 Michael Kemerer (Iowa), #3 Kutler, and #6 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State). Based on his seed, Labriola was named an NWCA Second-Team All-American.
The shortened 2021 season saw Labriola go undefeated during dual action, but he didn't face any of the top contenders at the weight. His closest regular season match came against Iowa when he got by true freshman Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 7-4.
At the Big Ten Championships, Labriola lost a hard-fought bout to the eventual conference runner-up and national champion Carter Starocci (Penn State) in sudden victory. Looking at his wins from the event, Labriola downed a pair of eventual All-Americans (Logan Massa - Michigan and Jackson Turley - Rutgers), along with a future Junior World Team member (Donnell Washington - Indiana). Labriola ended up in third place, his best B1G finish, to date.
A third place showing at the Big Ten meet and a record with only one loss was good enough for the fourth seed in St. Louis. Labriola's tournament started in unusual fashion as he was the recipient of a medical forfeit in the opening round by Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa). That led him to start his tournament in the Round of 16 against Arizona State freshman Trey Munoz and he got by with a 5-3 win.
In the quarters, Labriola would square off with #12 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly), who was fresh off an upset win over #5 Logan Massa (Michigan). Truax shocked the Cornhusker star with a 4-2 upset.
That loss forced Labriola to fend for himself in the Round of 12 to secure All-American honors. Labriola came out on top of Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 8-4 to earned All-American status for a second time. That momentum didn't stop for the rest of the tournament as Labriola reeled off four straight wins to finish in third place. He downed Daniel Bullard (NC State) and #2 seed Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) to propel himself into the consolation final. Waiting in the finals was upstart Truax. This time it was all Labriola and he got a measure of revenge with an 8-3 win.
Strengths: Labriola is very well-rounded. On his feet, he has heavy hands and good snapdowns. He thrives in short-offense, front headlock positions. While he can strike from various attacks on his feet, his low singles look to be the most potent. Labriola is smothering from the top position and can wear opponents out with his leg riding. He also has the intangibles that you develop from being through so many close battles early in his career and can pull out wins in tight situations.
2021-22 Outlook: Even though both NCAA finalists return at 174 lbs, don't count out Labriola. His only two matches with #1 Starocci and #2 Kemerer have been tight, two-point losses with the Starocci bout going to sudden victory. A break goes the Huskers' way and he's on top of the Big Ten or perhaps even NCAA's. Until proven differently, it looks as if the top-three in the Big Ten have separated themselves from the rest of the conference.
2x NCAA All-American Mike Labriola (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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