3x NCAA All-American Chad Red Jr. (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)
Next is…
#45 Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
Weight: 141 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 84-38
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 6th Place, 2020 NWCA 1st Team All-American, 2019 NCAA 8th Place, 2018 NCAA 7th Place, 2019 Big Ten Runner-Up
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #4 at 141 lbs
A mainstay near the top of the 141 lbs rankings for the last four-plus years has been Nebraska star Chad Red Jr. Plenty of fanfare surrounded Red Jr. as he arrived in Lincoln. Red Jr. was a four-time, undefeated (183-0) Indiana state champion and only the third wrestler in the state's history to finish unbeaten. To win his final title, Red Jr. prevailed in a super-match with future Penn State national champion, Nick Lee.
Right away, Red Jr. showed why he was such a highly coveted recruit during his redshirt year. After winning 15 of his first 16 bouts (including two tournaments), Red Jr. entered the Midlands Championships. There he ended up in fourth place, losing only to Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) and Matt Kolodzik (Princeton).
When his redshirt season ended, Red Jr. claimed three wins over NCAA qualifiers that year (Jack Hathaway - Oregon State, Russell Rohlfing - CSU Bakersfield, Cole Martin - Wisconsin).
It didn't take long for Red Jr. to make an impact as a redshirt freshman. In his first tournament of the year, Red Jr. knocked off returning All-American Tommy Thorn en route to a title at the Daktronics Open.
Just under a month later, he would take fourth place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. After Vegas, Red Jr. hit a bit of a rough patch during the dual season. He went 4-4 with losses to Kevin Jack (NC State), Mike Carr (Illinois), Nate Limmex (Purdue), and Cole Weaver (Indiana). Following the Weaver loss, Red Jr. managed to straighten things out and rolled into his first Big Ten tournament on a four-match winning streak.
At the Big Ten Championships, it was Limmex who got to Red Jr. again, along with Vince Turk (Iowa), which dropped Red Jr. into seventh place; however, it did secure a berth at nationals for the Husker freshman.
In 2018, only 16 wrestlers were seeded at nationals and Red Jr.'s seventh-place showing at the Big Ten meet wasn't enough to warrant a seed, so he was drawn in against #7 Brock Zacherl (Clarion). The higher seeded Zacherl got by with a 4-2 win.
As can be the case sometimes, Red Jr. started to gain momentum on the backside after his early loss. His next win was another over the All-American Thorn. He also cooled off a hot Ryan Diehl (Maryland), who had pinned Lee earlier in the tournament. Next up was a rematch with Turk. This time Red Jr. came out on top with a 3-2 victory. Those wins catapulted Red Jr. into the Round of 12, where he'd face his most imposing opponent of the year, two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil (Oklahoma State). Unphased, Red Jr. used a mixer to flip Heil onto his back and, after some fighting, pinned the Cowboy.
Red Jr. finished his first NCAA tournament with another fall as he pinned fellow unseeded All-American Sa'Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan) for seventh-place.
The sophomore year got off to a rocky start for Red Jr. as he dropped dual matches to Sam Krivus (Virginia) and Matt Findlay (Utah Valley) during the first event of the year. A couple of weeks later, Red Jr. went 1-2 at the CKLV Invitational.
A possible sophomore slump, combined with a loaded Big Ten weight class, made for a rough regular season for Red Jr. He pulled into the Big Ten Championships with a 16-10 record. Even so, the postseason allowed for a clean slate and Red Jr. went on an excellent run at the conference meet, which resulted in his highest finish to date at the event. The Husker star made the championship match after downing Mike Carr and Kanen Storr (Michigan), two opponents who had defeated him in tiebreakers earlier in that season. Red Jr. would settle for second place after a 9-2 loss to Joey McKenna (Ohio State).
The big wins at the Big Ten Championships helped Red Jr. gain the 16th seed at his second NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. In one of the toughest opening round matches, at any weight, Red Jr. pinned Iowa State's Ian Parker to make the Round of 16. That's where Red Jr.'s championship hopes would end as he lost to the defending national champion, Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell), 7-3.
A pair of consolation wins put Red Jr. back into the Round of 12, this time against Iowa's Max Murin. Like Red Jr., Murin was a highly capable competitor that has scuffled at times during the brutal Big Ten season. The 22nd seeded Murin has pulled off a couple of upsets to advance to the national quarterfinals. There would be no more upsets for Murin, as Red Jr. controlled the Hawkeye, to the tune of 4-1, to secure All-American status for a second consecutive year. Red Jr. would drop his next two matches to finish in eighth place.
Right away in 2019-20, Red Jr. got an early test against one of the top returners at the weight, when he fell to Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 11-4 at the Journeyman Collegiate Classic. The two ended up in the same weight class in Vegas, but did not meet as Red Jr. settled for fifth place. While Red Jr. suffered a loss to Parker, he did pin former All-American Tariq Wilson (NC State) in just over :30 seconds.
The highlight of a 5-3 Big Ten dual season in 2020 was his victory by fall over Mitch McKee (Minnesota). The Gopher star had dominated Red Jr. the previous year in the NCAA consolation quarterfinals.
All in all, the 2020 Big Ten Championships proved to be one of the more consistent events of Red Jr.'s career. He made the semifinals and pushed top-seeded Nick Lee before falling, 7-5. In the dual season, Lee had majored him. After the Lee loss, Red Jr. rebounded for third place by defeating Murin and Tristan Moran (Wisconsin). It was the second time in the tournament that Red Jr. downed Moran, an opponent that beat him in dual action.
Unfortunately, Covid wiped out the 2020 national tournament, an event that had Red Jr. locked in as the sixth seed. He was poised to meet freshman #27 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) in the opening round and some combination of #11 Zach Sherman (North Carolina)/#22 Noah Baughman (Cornell) in the Round of 16. Likely waiting in the quarters would have been #3 Real Woods (Stanford).
The shortened 2021 season included dual-action between only Big Ten schools. Despite that, Red Jr. did not his most of the top contenders at the weight in the regular season. His second match was a 7-5 loss to new Hawkeye Jaydin Eierman and proved to be the only blemish on his record before B1G's. Chad would lock in the fourth seed at the meet after defeating Dylan Duncan (Illinois) in the season finale.
Since Red Jr. was the fourth seed, another bout with Eierman loomed in the semifinals. This one would not be as close and Eierman cruised 7-1. After another win over Duncan, Red Jr. met 2x Big Ten champion Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) for third. Rivera came out on top in a close decision, 4-3.
The fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships yielded the eighth seed for Red Jr. in St. Louis. After a first-round win, Red Jr. suffered an ever-so-slight-upset loss to #9 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) in the Round of 16. As Red Jr. has been known to do, he buckled down in the consolations and downed a pair of top-eight seeds to ensure another place on the NCAA podium. His consolation victims included #6 Allan Hart (Missouri) and #7 Ian Parker (Iowa State).
Chad won his next bout against Sherman to clinch a spot in the top-six. From there, he would drop back-to-back matches to opponents he's defeated in the past (Wilson, Duncan) to settle into sixth-place.
Strengths: There's a whole lot to account for when facing Red Jr. He is probably best known for his big-move potential. Like facing Heil, Red Jr. has the potential to end the match quickly with mixers, cradles, and throws. In a more conventional sense, Red Jr.'s is quick and crisp with his leg attacks. His speed and scrambling ability proves to be the best defense from his feet. Not only can Red cradle from the top, but he is also a strong rider and capable of getting riding time points and exposure from tilts. You can't be complacent with him while riding either. Red Jr. isn't just satisfied with getting escape points. His good hips lend themselves to getting reversals.
2021-22 Outlook: Making predictions for Chad Red Jr. can always be a difficult task. During his full seasons, he's typically taken a loss or two that is unforeseen, but generally shines in the postseason. He is currently ranked fourth in the country at 141, behind a wrestler he has defeated multiple times. Chad will have to show he's ready to take the next step to beat the likes of Lee and Eierman. Despite his high school success against Lee, he's a combined 0-5 in college against those top two.
Another confounding note regarding Red Jr.'s history is the fact that he has not made it to the NCAA quarterfinals, during any of these three trips to nationals. While he's gotten it done and posted some impressive wins in the consis, Red Jr. hasn't finished higher than sixth at NCAA's. Here's to hoping the super-senior takes advantage of his extra year of eligibility and challenges that top tier in the regular season and at nationals.
3x NCAA All-American Chad Red Jr. (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)
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