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    A look at 10 intriguing matchups in 2010-11

    There are intriguing matchups that wrestling fans look forward to every college wrestling season. After the 2009 NCAAs, many wrestling fans anticipated seeing the Darrion Caldwell-Brent Metcalf rivalry renewed in 2009-10. But surgery kept Caldwell off the mat last season, which prevented the matchup from happening; Metcalf went on to win the NCAA title. Other times, a highly-anticipated matchup does not take place until the final match of the season ... like in the case of Jay Borschel (Iowa) vs. Mack Lewnes (Cornell) last season. Both cruised through the regular season undefeated and met in the NCAA finals, with Borschel coming out on top.

    So what are the potential intriguing matchups in Division I college wrestling this season? There are many that have wrestling fans excited about the upcoming college wrestling season. I have chosen one potential matchup in each of the 10 weight classes that I would like to see this collegiate wrestling season.

    125: Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. Logan Stieber (Ohio State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • January 23, Iowa City, Iowa (Dual Meet)

    Matt McDonough (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)
    It's seems virtually impossible for an Iowa Hawkeye wrestler to come out of nowhere, but McDonough somehow managed to do it last season. Sure, he was a three-time state champion and multiple-time All-American in Fargo coming out of high school. But he lost eight times at 133 pounds as a redshirt and opened last season unranked by InterMat. All he did as a freshman was go 37-1 en route to winning the NCAA title in a weight class that included two past NCAA champions. Stieber, who was ranked as the nation's No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2010 by InterMat, has the ability to contend for an NCAA title immediately as a true freshman. He placed third at the U.S. Open after his junior year of high school and many believe he will be in the mix to make the U.S. Olympic Team in 2012.

    133: Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) vs. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • January 8-9, Cedar Falls, Iowa (NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals)
  • February 11, Stillwater, Oklahoma (Dual Meet)

    Hochstrasser, an All-American in 2009, wrestled sparingly last season, going 8-0, but was unable to compete in the postseason. Many speculated this offseason whether Oliver, who finished fourth NCAAs as a freshman, would move up to 141 pounds for his sophomore season. John Smith felt that Oliver might be better suited for 141 pounds, but Oliver managed his weight and ultimately decided to return to 133 pounds.

    141: Kellen Russell (Michigan) vs. Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • December 3-4, Las Vegas, Nevada (Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational)

    The 141-pound weight class was viewed as wide open last season with six to eight wrestlers in the mix to win an NCAA title. When the dust settled in Omaha, it was a true freshman (Kyle Dake) beating a wrestler who began the season third on his own team's depth chart (Montell Marion). With Dake moving up to 149 pounds and Marion not competing this season, the weight class is once again wide open. But All-Americans Russell and Kennedy, who are both coming off redshirt seasons, will help fill the void of losing both NCAA finalists. Kennedy has twice been an All-American at 133 pounds. He wrestled at 141 pounds as a redshirt last season and finished runner-up at the Midlands to Alex Krom of Maryland. Russell has posted a 63-11 record in two seasons, earning All-American honors in 2009, but did not wrestle a single match last season while redshirting.

    149: Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) vs. Kyle Dake (Cornell)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • December 3-4, Las Vegas, Nevada (Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational)
  • December 29-30, Greensboro, North Carolina (Southern Scuffle)

    Kyle Dake (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)
    This is one of two potential matchups between NCAA champions that could happen this college wrestling season. Caldwell, a 2009 NCAA champion, is the best college wrestler in the country regardless of weight class. Sure, he's coming off surgery and hasn't competed since the summer of 2009, but there isn't a college wrestler in the country that is as skilled and athletic as Caldwell. Dake had a sensational true freshman season, going 34-2 and becoming the first true freshman since Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) in 2006 to win an NCAA championship. Dake, who was named InterMat Freshman of the Year in 2010, is strong in every position, especially in the top position, and isn't afraid to mix it up and take risks, which is why a potential matchup with Caldwell has wrestling fans excited.

    157: Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) vs. David Taylor (Penn State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • January 7-8, Hampton, Virginia (Virginia Duals)

    Jenkins and Taylor were teammates at Penn State last season. The two faced off at the East Stroudsburg Open, with Jenkins edging Taylor, 4-3. Jenkins' bitter divorce from the Penn State wrestling program last season was well documented. He and his then-coach, Cael Sanderson, butted heads and Jenkins, a 2008 NCAA runner-up, transferred to Arizona State for his senior campaign. Taylor was the nation's top recruit in 2009 and has been successful at every level of wrestling. He went 21-2 as a redshirt with his only losses coming to teammates Jenkins and Cyler Sanderson. Expectations are sky-high for Taylor, who has Olympic aspirations. Jenkins, a Junior World champion in 2007, has said this will be his final season of wrestling and that he will not pursue an international wrestling career. So beating Cael's protégé, Taylor, in the NCAA finals would be a redemptive finish to his wrestling career.

    165: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) vs. Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • December 29-30, Evanston, Illinois (Midlands Championships)
  • January 21, Madison, Wisconsin (Dual Meet)

    Andrew Howe (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)
    Like 149, this is a potential matchup of NCAA champions. Burroughs was an NCAA champion in 2009 at 157 pounds, but suffered a season-ending knee injury last December that prevented him from defending his title. He was granted a medical redshirt by the NCAA and has moved up to 165 pounds for his final season. Howe is on track to become one of collegiate wrestling's all-time greats. He has reached the NCAA finals in each of his first two seasons at Wisconsin, winning the NCAA title last season. He went 37-0 last season to run his career record to 67-5.

    174: Mack Lewnes (Cornell) vs. Ed Ruth (Penn State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • December 29-30, Greensboro, North Carolina (Southern Scuffle)

    On paper, this looks like a mismatch and it very well may be. Top-ranked senior vs. freshman. Lewnes, an NCAA runner-up last season, has been one of the most dominant wrestlers in the country over the past two seasons. He was crushing opponents all last season before falling in the NCAA finals to Jay Borschel of Iowa. Don't sleep on Ruth. He has the potential to be a great one. The shy, unassuming Ruth was 14-3 as a redshirt last season with two of those losses coming to teammate Quentin Wright and the other coming to Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro.

    184: Kirk Smith (Boise State) vs. Chris Perry (Oklahoma State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • January 8-9, Cedar Falls, Iowa (NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals)
  • February 11, Stillwater, Oklahoma (Dual Meet)

    Smith, an NCAA runner-up last season, is the highest returning NCAA finisher and is expected to begin the season ranked No. 1. He is the leader of a Boise State team that is expected to be in the hunt for a team trophy in Philadelphia. Perry, the younger brother of two-time NCAA champion Mark Perry, is an immediate impact wrestler who has high goals in the sport. He was 15-1 as a redshirt and won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Hungary over the summer.

    197: Anthony Biondo (Michigan) vs. Sonny Yohn (Minnesota)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • December 29-30, Greensboro, North Carolina (Southern Scuffle)
  • February 11, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Dual Meet)

    Sonny Yohn (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)
    These two met twice last season with Biondo coming out victorious in both matches. However, it was Yohn who found a spot on the podium in Omaha, not Biondo. Both move well and like to create action, which has resulted in some crazy scramble situations in their previous meetings.

    285: Dom Bradley (Missouri) vs. Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State)
    Potential Meetings Before Postseason:
  • January 8-9, Cedar Falls, Iowa (NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals)
  • February 4, Stillwater, Oklahoma (Dual Meet)

    With 2009 NCAA champion Mark Ellis no longer in the picture, it will be Bradley's time to shine for the Tigers. A Junior World champion in 2009, Bradley has battled and beaten some of the nation's top collegiate heavyweights. He finished third at the U.S. World Team Trials this past summer, losing only to 2009 World bronze medalist Tervel Dlagnev. He notched a victory over former Ohio State standout Tommy Rowlands, who placed fifth at the 2007 World Championships. Gelogaev, who grew up in Russia and trained under wrestling legend Buvaisar Saitiev, wrestled his first season of folkstyle wrestling last season at 197 pounds and became an All-American with a seventh-place finish. He has a lot of tools on his feet, but has struggled mightily on the mat.
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