Here's a look at ten wrestlers who entered the week on the bubble to qualify for the NCAAs after the conference tournaments but failed to earn an at-large bid.
Tyler Small (Kent State, 141)
Small, a two-time NCAA qualifier, wrestled a brutal schedule this season and had seven wins over automatic qualifiers, including a win over 14th-seeded Edgar Bright of Pitt. But the Kent State junior struggled with consistency. He entered the MAC Championships seeded fifth in a weight class with five automatic qualifiers. Small dropped his opening match to fourth-seeded Lavion Mayes of Missouri in sudden victory, 4-2, and then was upset by Eastern Michigan's Michael Shaw, 6-3. Small finished the season with a 21-17 record, and was passed over for an at-large bid by the NCAA wrestling committee.
Jesse Thielke (Photo/The Guillotine)Thielke is certainly best known for his Greco-Roman accomplishments. He was on the 2013 U.S. World Team and a four-time Junior World Team member. He struggled with consistency at 141 pounds this season as a redshirt freshman, but ended up winning 20 matches. He had a 10-7 win at the Midlands over Harvard's Todd Preston, who won an EIWA title and was given the 10th seed at the NCAAs. Thielke had a respectable showing at the Big Tens, where he finished in seventh place. In his final match he won by major decision over Purdue's Danny Sabatello, 18-6. As it turned out, Sabatello was chosen over Thielke for an at-large spot.
Adam Krop (Princeton, 149)
Krop was an NCAA qualifier two seasons ago, but missed last season because of a knee injury. Earlier this season he appeared to be on track to qualify for the NCAAs at 141 pounds. Krop entered the Midlands seeded third, but failed to place. He then moved up a weight class to 149 pounds for the second half of the season. Krop took a surprising loss in his first competition at 149 pounds at the Franklin & Marshall Open. He then went on a run, losing only to Cornell's Chris Villalonga before the conference tournament. Krop needed to place in the top four at the EIWAs to earn an automatic berth, but finished fifth. He ended his season with a 32-8 record.
Andy McCulley (Wyoming, 157)
McCulley, an NCAA qualifier last season, needed to finish in the top two in his weight class at the West Regional to earn an automatic berth in the NCAAs. He entered the event seeded second and cruised to the finals after pinning Northern Colorado's Mitchell Polkowske in the semifinals. In the finals he dropped a one-point match to South Dakota's State's Cody Pack, who earned a 15th seed at the NCAAs. McCulley then dropped his true-second match to Air Force's Josh Kreimier, 8-4. McCulley compiled a record of 20-11.
Tyler Lehmann (North Dakota State, 197)
Lehmann made his debut in NDSU's lineup on Jan. 4, pinning Cal Poly's Nicolas Johnson in the first period. He then proceeded to win six of his next seven matches, with all six of those wins coming by pin. His only loss during that stretch came against Oregon State's Taylor Meeks. At the National Duals Lehmann went 1-2, dropping matches to Minnesota's Scott Schiller and Meeks again. He was then hammered in a dual meet against Wyoming's Shane Woods, 14-5. Lehmann needed to win his weight class at the West Regional to earn an automatic berth to the NCAAs, but fell in the finals to Woods, 6-3. He finished with a record of 14-6 and 12 pins.
Jacob Aiken-Phillips (Cornell, 285)
Aiken-Phillips entered the EIWA tournament seeded fifth needing to finish fourth for an automatic spot in the NCAAs. After opening the tournament with a win, Aiken-Phillips fell to American's Blake Herrin in the quarterfinals. The Cornell heavyweight rebounded with back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket to reach the consolation semifinals where he was upset by sixth-seeded Max Wessell of Lehigh, 3-2. Aiken-Phillips then notched a win over third-seeded Tyler Deuel of Binghamton, which put him on the bubble to earn an at-large bid. But he was passed over by four other heavyweights, including one who defeated him this season, Oklahoma's Ross Larson.
Matt Bystol (Photo/Rob Preston)Bystol, an NCAA qualifier last season at 133 pounds, was ranked in the top 20 by InterMat earlier in the season after starting the season 8-2, with his only losses during that span coming to Central Michigan Zach Horan and Hofstra's Luke Vaith. Bystol struggled with consistency during the season, but did notch wins over 2014 NCAA qualifiers Nick Flannery of Buffalo and Laike Gardner of Lehigh. Bystol was upset by Army's Tyler Rauenzahn in his first match at the EIWAs, but bounced back to defeat American's Tom Page before defeating Gardner for the second time this season. He then lost to NCAA round of 12 finisher Richard Durso of Franklin & Marshall, which knocked him into the seventh-place match, where he avenged his loss to Rauenzahn. Bystol finished one spot away from an automatic bid. Interestingly, he was passed over for an at-large bid by Gardner, a wrestler he was 2-0 against.
Cole Baxter (Kent State, 197)
With only two automatic berths available at 197 pounds in the MAC Conference -- and Missouri's J'den Cox and Ohio's Phil Wellington residing in the weight class -- Baxter was a longshot to qualify for the NCAAs at his conference tournament. He ended up finishing fifth in the tournament. However, his regular season performance placed him on the bubble for an at-large berth. He won 24 matches this season, with five of those wins coming over wrestlers who earned automatic berths in the NCAAs. He had two wins over ACC champion Chris Penny of Virginia Tech, who was given the No. 14 seed at the NCAA, but ended up not being enough to send him to Oklahoma City.
Vince Pickett (Edinboro, 197)
Pickett needed to win an EWL title in a weight class with Bloomsburg's Richard Perry to earn an automatic berth in the NCAAs. As it turned out, Pickett didn't even get a crack at Perry. He lost in the semifinals of his conference tournament and wrestled back to third place. But he won 20 matches during the season and picked up a major decision win over automatic qualifier Timmy McCall of Wisconsin, which put him on the bubble. He was passed over by four 197-pounders, including two who defeated him during the regular season.
Camden Eppert (Photo/The Guillotine)Eppert was a four-time placewinner at the Big Tens, which is an impressive feat considering the talent and depth in the conference. He was an NCAA qualifier as a freshman and sophomore, but failed to qualify for the NCAAs as a junior and senior. This year Eppert finished in eighth place at the Big Tens, one place away from earning an automatic berth. He split matches this season with NCAA qualifier Nick Roberts of Ohio State, but was passed over by four wrestlers, including one wrestler who defeated him twice, Conor Youtsey of Michigan.
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