2024 NCAA DI National Championships Preview (157 lbs)

The 2024 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Kansas City, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2003 , but by all accounts, should be a great host. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. The Top Seed: Levi Haines (Penn State) The 2023 NCAA Freshman of the Year, Levi Haines, picked up right where he left off in 2022-23. As a true freshman, Haines knocked off unbeaten top-ranked Peyton Robb to claim a Big Ten title. A few weeks later, he beat Robb for a second time to earn a berth in the national finals. Haines would end up coming up short to two-time national champion Austin O’Connor; however, he was the only freshman to make it to the 2023 finals. That loss to O’Connor is the most recent blemish on the record for Haines. He navigated through a tough schedule that included five wins over three past All-Americans without a setback. Along the way, Haines managed to bump his bonus point total up over 60% after getting additional points in only 34% of his matches as a freshman. While Haines has been able to rack up points more easily this season, he’s still been able to grind out some close wins. In the Big Ten finals, Haines was able to register a takedown on the stingy Will Lewan to get his second conference crown in as many tries. Earlier in the Big Ten dual schedule, Haines was able to survive a bout that went to tiebreakers with Chase Saldate. The 157 lb bracket is absolutely loaded! There are potential hurdles all over the place. Though Haines has earned the top seed at this weight, he still has a very difficult route to his first national title. In his second bout, he has the potential to hit three-time NCAA All-American Brock Mauller. The quarterfinals could feature a bout against one of two multiple-time All-Americans, Robb and Lewan. Each has pushed Haines into extra time. The Contenders: #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State), #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell)...the top 14 seeds? The Conference Champions ACC: #4 Ed Scott (NC State) Big 12: #5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) Big Ten: #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) EIWA: #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) MAC: #7 Peyten Kellar (Ohio) Pac-12: #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) SoCon: #19 Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) Top First-Round Matches #16 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) vs. #17 Brock Mauller (Missouri) #9 Will Lewan (Michigan) vs. #24 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) #14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State) vs. #19 Tommy Askey (Appalachian State) #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) vs. #23 Joey Blaze (Purdue) #15 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State) vs. #18 Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) 157 lbs has been my favorite weight class to follow all year. While Haines is undefeated and the top seed, there are plenty of quality competitors who could defeat him or prevail in a tournament setting. The weight features five multi-time All-Americans and five other AA’s. In addition, there are three talented freshmen within the top-15 seeds. Plus the talent has been dispersed relatively evenly. Each of the five seeds come from five different conferences. As mentioned above, the top quarterfinal includes Haines, Brock Mauller, Peyton Robb, and Will Lewan. Not to mention, Chase Saldate and Trevor Chumbley, both of which have made it to at least the consolation Round of 16 at nationals. The second quarterfinal on the top half of the bracket is headlined by Ed Scott, the fourth seed. Scott could have a ridiculously difficult second-round match with an opponent that was ranked in the top four for most of the season. Michael Blockhus was pinned in his first match at the Big Ten Championships by Lewan and ended up defaulting out of the tournament and was punished with the 13th seed. The winner of that bout could have a quarterfinal bout with the winner of Bryce Andonian and Ryder Downey. The electric Andonian was injured in early-January and returned for the ACC Tournament, but didn’t appear to be close to 100%. Downey emerged victorious in a brutal Big 12 weight class after a marathon conference championship win over Cody Chittum. And we still have the bottom half of the bracket. Speaking of Chittum, he could be in line for a second-round matchup will fellow freshman Meyer Shapiro. The two were expected to meet at the Collegiate Duals, but Shapiro was held out of the dual. The U17 and U20 world champion lost twice at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and hasn’t been beaten since. The winner of the potential Chittum/Shapiro matchup will have to contend with the winner of Brayton Lee and Daniel Cardenas in the quarterfinals. Lee competed sparingly during the regular season, but has looked close to the wrestler that earned All-American honors in 2021 as he finished fifth in the Big Ten. Cardenas was fifth in Vegas and a runner-up at the Southern Scuffle this year. The final quarterfinal features the second-seeded Jacori Teemer, who has multiple wins over Cardenas and was a Midlands champion. He’d have the winner of Cael Swensen and Vince Zerban in the second round. Zerban was ranked second in the nation during the regular season and was undefeated heading into the Big 12 Championships. The other quadrant on the bottom half of the bracket features MAC champion Peyten Kellar and 2023 All-American Jared Franek. Like Shapiro, Kellar’s only two losses on the year came in Vegas. He’s on a 14-match winning streak. Franek was fourth in the nation last year and fourth in the Big Ten during his only year with Iowa. Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #16 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) Coming into the year, it appeared as if there may be a hole at 157 lbs for Oklahoma State. It took a month and seven matches at 149 lbs, but Teague Travis grabbed a hold of the starting role at 157 and never looked back. Travis won his first seven matches at his new weight class, including one over NC State’s returning All-American Ed Scott. In early February, Travis downed his former high school teammate, Mauller. Now, Travis and Mauller are set to square off in the first round in Kansas City. However it shakes out, Travis is capable of a good run, even at a weight class this deep. Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #24 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) Only in a weight class this deep will you find a two-time top-five finisher in the Big Ten and a returning NCAA Round of 12 finisher at the 24th seed. Chase Saldate isn’t your typical 24th seed. In the first round, Saldate will have a familiar opponent, Lewan. This will be the sixth career meeting between the two. Saldate does have one win over Lewan, so he probably feels better than most 24th seeds in the opening round. Even if Lewan continues with a win, the consolations seem to favor another good run from Saldate. Team Race: Could this be perhaps the most pivotal weight in the team race? You have proven All-Americans that have been ranked in the top-three like, like Robb and Franek, seeded at eight and ten respectively. There’s a reason for those seeds, but frankly, both are capable of significantly outwrestling those seeds. On their best day, each could win. Getting finalist points from someone seeded eighth or tenth is a huge boost to those teams in search of a trophy. A match that we already described, Chittum/Shapiro in the Round of 16 - one of those wrestlers is just a match away from placing, and the loser will have to win multiple matches before dealing with a quarterfinal loser, just to get on the podium. Fortunes at this weight could shift so quickly or radically, based on how that bracket breaks on Thursday and Friday. Some projected matches to watch include a Franek/Teemer quarterfinal or a Shapiro/Teemer semifinal. All include wrestlers with teams expected to be in the hunt. Projected Quarterfinals #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. #8 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) #5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) vs. #13 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) vs. #11 Brayton Lee (Indiana) #10 Jared Franek (Iowa) vs. #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) Projected Semifinals #1 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. #5 Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) #3 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) vs. #2 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) Projected All-Americans 1st: Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) 2nd: Levi Haines (Penn State) 3rd: Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 4th: Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) 5th: Jared Franek (Iowa) 6th: Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 7th: Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 8th: Will Lewan (Michigan) Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #16 Teague Travis (Oklahoma State), #14 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), #4 Ed Scott (NC State), #11 Brayton Lee (Indiana) Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #24 Chase Saldate (Michigan), #6 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford), #12 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech), #17 Brock Mauller (Missouri)

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2024 NCAA DI National Championships Preview (157 lbs)

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