Pac-12 rivals Grant Willits and Real Woods will meet in the first round (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)This year's opening round at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships may be one of the most exciting in several years. There are many intriguing matchups happening in the opening session that should be happening in the second or even third session. The NCAA Wrestling Committee faced a tall order seeding 33 wrestlers in 10 weight classes in a shortened season. Seeding was all over the board this season. There were seeds -- and even weight classes -- that were seeded well. Conversely, there were head-scratching seeds, which caused a bracket chaos and brought about some interesting early matchups.
Let's examine the best first-round matchup in each of the 10 weight classes.
125: No. 6 Jakob Camacho (NC State) vs. No. 27 Gage Curry (American)
Camacho had a strong season, going 8-2, with both of his losses coming to second-seeded freshman Sam Latona of Virginia Tech. The NC State sophomore could see Latona for a third time this season in the semifinals but has a tough path to get there. He opens with American's Gage Curry, a four-time NCAA qualifier who had a late start to his season due to American University not competing in the regular season. Curry is a dangerous matchup for Latona. He went 31-9 last season and placed fourth at the EIWA Championships. This year, Curry improved on his conference tournament finish, placing third. While Camacho remains a strong favorite here, look for Curry to make it a competitive match.
133: No. 14 Zach Price (South Dakota State) vs. No. 19 Chance Rich (CSUB)
Price made a big leap from last season, going from slightly under .500 and failing to qualify for the NCAAs to posting a 14-4 record and earning a No. 14 seed in St. Louis. He had a bit of a disappointing Big 12 tournament, losing in the opening round as the No. 3 seed to Oklahoma's Tony Madrigal. Price battled back to place fifth. Rich wrestled only two matches prior to the Pac-12 Championships, beating NCAA qualifier Paul Bianchi of Little Rock and losing to Stanford's Jason Miranda. Rich got on a little bit of a roll at the Big 12 Championships, first beating Bianchi for a second time before giving Arizona State's Michael McGee his first and only loss of the season. Rich was able to get two extra matches after the conference, scoring a pair of technical falls. He earned an at-large berth on Tuesday. These two wrestlers are evenly matched, and it should be a fun one to watch.
141: No. 12 Grant Willits (Oregon State) vs. No. 21 Real Woods (Stanford)
This is a matchup most wrestling fans circled when the brackets were released Wednesday night. It's a rematch from the finals of the Pac-12 Championships. Woods, a third seed at the NCAAs last season as a freshman, missed the entire regular season in 2021. He entered the Pac-12 tournament as the third seed and, as expected, appeared a little rusty. He won a pair of tight 3-2 matches to reach the finals against Willits. In the finals, Willits pinned Woods to claim the Pac-12 title. Willits, a three-time NCAA qualifier, brings a 9-2 record into the NCAAs. These two wrestlers met twice last season, with Woods winning both matches by major decision.
149: No. 1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs. No. 32 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado)
The top-seeded Sasso will face a very tough first-round opponent in Alirez, a Senior Nationals freestyle champion (assuming Alirez gets past Greg Gaxiola of Hofstra in a pigtail match). Sasso enters the NCAAs undefeated (12-0) after claiming the Big Ten title. Northern Colorado's Alirez has battled injuries and injury defaulted at the conference tournament. The injury default loss is his only loss of the season. No matter how one looks at it, the fact that the NCAA Wrestling Committee seeded Alirez No. 32 in a field of 33 wrestlers is embarrassing. He might be the most talented wrestler in the bracket and he has to face the top-seeded wrestler in the first round. It remains to be seen how healthy Alirez will be in St. Louis, but this match could bring some fireworks in the opening session.
Note: Alirez withdrew from the NCAAs after this article was published.
157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) vs. No. 27 Justin Ruffin (SIUE)
Lee put together a strong season after moving up from 149 pounds. His only losses this season have come against the No. 1 and No. 5 seeds. Lee is coming off a strong third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, with his lone defeat being a tiebreaker loss in the semifinals to Iowa's Kaleb Young. Ruffin, a three-time NCAA qualifier, won eight of his first nine matches this season. He was seeded third at the MAC Championships and opened with a victory before getting injured in his second match. He was forced to injury default in that match as well his next match. A healthy Ruffin could make it an interesting match. He's very skilled and has beaten some quality opponents throughout his career. But Ruffin does not appear to be healthy … and there is a chance he might not even take the mat in St. Louis.
Note: Ruffin withdrew from the NCAAs after this article was published.
165: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 23 Joe Lee (Penn State)
Wittlake looked to be on track to be the No. 2 seed at the NCAAs before getting upset in the Big 12 semifinals by North Dakota State's Luke Weber. He brings a 16-1 record to St. Louis. His No. 10 seed seems to be a major overreaction from the NCAA Wrestling Committee. Wittlake has a 44-3 record in his two seasons as Oklahoma State's 165-pound starter. Lee came into the season with high expectations after posting a 14-2 record last season as a redshirt. He has battled some inconsistency this season and enters the NCAAs with a 6-5 record. Lee was upset in the opening round of the Big Ten Championships by Maryland's Jonathan Spadafora and wound up eighth. Wittlake and Lee met last season in the consolation semifinals of the Southern Scuffle, with Wittlake taking the 8-4 victory.
174: No. 14 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) vs. No. 19 Michael O'Malley (Drexel)
Both these wrestlers have flown under the radar this season. Hastings, a three-time NCAA qualifier, won 13 of his first 14 matches this season, with the only during that span coming to Utah Valley's Demetrius Romero, who enters the NCAAs seeded No. 2. It looked as though Hastings and Romero would meet again in the Big 12 finals as the two entered the tournament as the top seeds. Hastings, though, fell in the semifinals to Northern Colorado's Jackson Hemauer and finished third. Drexel's O'Malley, a two-time NCAA qualifier, was undefeated heading into the EIWA Championships and earned the No. 1 seed. He reached the finals before losing a tight match (2-1) in the finals to Army West Point's Ben Pasiuk. This is a match that could go either way.
184: No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 29 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State)
Northern Iowa's Keckeisen, a two-time Wisconsin state champion, has been one of the most impressive freshmen in the nation this season. He brings an unblemished record of 13-0 into the NCAAs after winning a MAC title. Colbray, a three-time NCAA qualifier, enters the tournament with a 6-3 record. All three of his losses this season have come to higher seeds, with one being to Keckeisen, 4-3. In that match, Keckeisen scored a late takedown and rode out Colbray for the victory. Round 2 could be another tight battle.
197: No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. No. 28 Nick Reenan (NC State)
Iowa's Warner was awarded the No. 5 seed for the second consecutive season. He placed seventh at the NCAAs in 2019 and was expected to finish on the podium again last season before the NCAA tournament was canceled. He is 8-2 this season, with his only losses coming to the top two seeds, No. 1 Myles Amine of Michigan and No. 2 Eric Schultz of Nebraska. Reenan, a three-time NCAA qualifier, split time with Isaac Trumble in NC State's lineup this season but secured the starting spot late in the season. He finished fourth at the ACC Championships and brings a 7-3 season mark into the NCAAs. Reenan is a talented competitor who has battled injuries throughout his college career. He reached Final X in 2018. Reenan has beaten Warner before (prior to college). This is a big match for team race. The Hawkeyes need Warner to make a run through the championship side of the bracket, while NC State is hoping Reenan can overperform as the No. 28 seed.
285: No. 9 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. No. 24 Michael McAleavey (Citadel)
Kerkvliet, a multiple-time age-group world medalist and 2017 cadet world champion, was the nation's top recruit in the Class of 2019. Last season, Kerkvliet competed in open tournaments, compiling an 8-0 record. It looked as though he might be sidelined this season due to injury but was inserted into Penn State's lineup late in the season. Kerkvliet wrestled a couple matches prior to the Big Ten Championships, getting two pins against Maryland. He went on to finish fourth in a deep and talented weight class at the Big Tens. He notched victories over NCAA qualifiers Christian Lance of Nebraska and Trent Hillger of Wisconsin and took losses to Michigan's Mason Parris and Iowa's Tony Cassioppi. McAleavey comes into the NCAAs with a 15-1 record this season. Over half his wins this season have come by pin. He won the SoCon title with a 5-3 victory over Campbell's Taye Ghadiali, becoming the first Citadel wrestler to win a conference championship since 2015.
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