Matt McDonough
College: Iowa
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 55 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Olympic Team Trials Performance: McDonough, wrestling in front of his home crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, opened with a victory over college rival Brandon Precin. In the Challenge Tournament quarterfinals he was blanked by 2011 U.S. World Team member Nick Simmons in two periods. McDonough bounced back to beat Frank Perrelli, before being knocked out by 2010 U.S. World Team member Obe Blanc.
Looking Ahead: McDonough will be in search of his third NCAA title. He will be the prohibitive favorite if he stays at 125 pounds.
Earl Hall
College: TBD
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 55 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 4
Earl Hall battled Henry Cejudo tough in his first match (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Looking Ahead: Hall spent this past year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs after a prep career in Florida. He plans to wrestle in college, but is still undecided on where. Iowa State and Oklahoma State are at the top of his list, but he has not completely ruled out the possibility of spending another year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center.
Logan Stieber
College: Ohio State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 60 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 3
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Stieber, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, reached the finals, before losing to Coleman Scott. He had wins over Jimmy Kennedy and Mike Zadick.
Looking Ahead: Stieber will enter the season as the favorite at 133 pounds after winning an NCAA title as a redshirt freshman.
Tyler Graff
College: Wisconsin
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 60 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 2
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Graff opened with a three-period loss to two-time NCAA champion Matt Valenti, but battled back to finish third. His victories came over Derek Moore, Justin Pearch, and Andrew Hochstrasser.
Looking Ahead: Graff is expected to be back in the Badger lineup at 133 pounds after taking an Olympic redshirt this past season. The two-time All-American will be in the hunt for an NCAA title, but will have his work cut out for him with seven of the eight All-Americans at 133 pounds returning.
Jason Chamberlain
College: Boise State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 66 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Jason Chamberlain defeated Cary Kolat in his first match (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Looking Ahead: Chamberlain, a 2011 All-American, will be one of the favorites to win a national title, most likely at 149 pounds. He was 29-2 in 2010-11, losing only to Frank Molinaro of Penn State and Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State.
Jordan Oliver
College: Oklahoma State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 66 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Oliver was originally slated to wrestle at 60 kilos, but did not make that weight and moved up to 66 kilos. He wrestled Brent Metcalf right out of the gate, and battled the former Hawkeye tough, but fell in three periods. Oliver then faced Adam Hall in the consolation bracket and lost in two periods, 1-0, 1-1.
Looking Ahead: Indications are that Oliver will move up from 133 pounds to 141 pounds for his senior season. He proved at the Trials that he can hang with the bigger, stronger wrestlers. (Metcalf was a 149-pounder in college; Hall, a 157-pounder.) With the top-three NCAA finishers at 141 pounds graduating, Oliver would be a prohibitive favorite to win his second NCAA title.
Andrew Howe
College: TBD
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 74 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Howe put together a strong performance, winning the Challenge Tournament at 74 kilos, which includes victories over NCAA champion David Taylor, NCAA runner-up Tyler Caldwell, and 2009 U.S. World Team member Trent Paulson. In the best-of-three finals he faced defending World champion Jordan Burroughs. The first match went to Burroughs in three periods, but Howe suffered an injury in the match and was forced to default to Burroughs.
Looking Ahead: Howe has compiled a gaudy 94-8 record in three seasons at Wisconsin. He is an NCAA champion, two-time NCAA finalist, and three-time All-Americans. He is coming off an Olympic redshirt season, which he spent in Ann Arbor, Mich., training with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. It remains to be seen whether Howe returns to Madison for his senior season, or whether he transfers to another program. Either way, Howe will be a frontrunner to finish his career on top of the podium.
Kyle Dake
College: Cornell
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 74 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Kyle Dake had two wins over Nick Marable at the Trials (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Looking Ahead: All eyes will be on Dake this coming season as he looks to become just the third four-time NCAA champion in Division 1, and the first to accomplish the feat without a redshirt season. His titles have come at three different weigh classes. Dake may or may not move up again for his senior season. He says he will do what is best for Cornell.
David Taylor
College: Penn State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 74 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 2
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Taylor opened with a three-period victory over Moza Fay, but was sent to the consolation bracket when Andrew Howe shut him out in two periods, 1-0, 5-0. He came back to defeat Mike Poeta and Colt Sponseller, which set up the much-anticipated showdown with Kyle Dake. The match was controlled Dake, who earned a second-period fall.
Looking Ahead: It will be difficult for Taylor to have another season as dominant as the one he had this past season. He was 32-0 with 30 bonus-point victories. Taylor has stated that he is planning on staying at 165 pounds next season, a weight class that could be one of the toughest in NCAA wrestling history if Andrew Howe and Tyler Caldwell return to the weight class, and Kyle Dake moves up.
Tyler Caldwell
College: TBD
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 74 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 2
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Caldwell topped Matt Brown in his first match, before falling in two periods to Andrew Howe in the Challenge Tournament semifinals. Caldwell then dropped a match to Nick Marable in the consolation semifinals.
Looking Ahead: Caldwell is coming off a productive Olympic redshirt season in which he placed in a handful of international events. After finishing as an NCAA runner-up at 165 pounds to Jordan Burroughs in 2011, Caldwell announced after the coaching change at Oklahoma that he would be transferring to Nebraska. He has since reconsidered, but has yet to announce where he will wrestle next season, and whether he will compete at 165 pounds or 174 pounds.
Matt Brown
College: Penn State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 74 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 3
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Brown went 1-2, defeating Ryan Morningstar, before falling to Tyler Caldwell and Colt Sponseller.
Looking Ahead: Brown, widely considered the best backup in college wrestling this past season, is expected to step in the Nittany Lion lineup at 174 pounds this coming season, with Ed Ruth moving up to 184 pounds.
Quentin Wright
College: Penn State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 84 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Quentin Wright opened with a victory over Bryce Hasseman (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Looking Ahead: Indications point toward Wright moving up to 197 pounds for his senior season. The top three finishes at 197 graduate, but NCAA champion Dustin Kilgore could be returning to the weight class.
Ed Ruth
College: Penn State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 84 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 2
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Ruth dropped his first match to Phil Keddy in three periods. In the consolation bracket he defeated Joe LeBlanc, before being eliminated by Raymond Jordan.
Looking Ahead: Ruth, InterMat's Wrestler of the Year in 2012, is expected to move up to 184 pounds and into a weight class that returns five All-Americans (not counting teammate Quentin Wright), including NCAA champion Steve Bosak of Cornell.
Dustin Kilgore
College: Kent State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 96 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Dustin Kilgore gets instruction from Brandon Slay and Bill Zadick (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Looking Ahead: Kilgore will return to Kent State for his senior season in search of his second NCAA title. His biggest challenge at 197 pounds will likely come from another 2011 NCAA champion, Quentin Wright of Penn State.
Tanner Hall
College: TBD
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 96 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 4
Olympic Team Trials Performance: The 19-year-old Hall lost his first match to David Zabriskie in two periods, and then was knocked out of the tournament after losing his second match to Trevor Brandvold in three periods.
Looking Ahead: Hall, who has spent the past year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, plans to make his college decision within the next month or two. However, don't expect to see him in college competition for a few years. Hall plans on taking a two-year mission with his church before he enrolls in college.
Jarod Trice
College: Central Michigan
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 120 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Jarod Trice defeated Dom Bradley in three periods (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Looking Ahead: Trice, a two-time All-American, took an Olympic redshirt this past season and will be back in a Chippewa singlet for his senior season. He will look to improve upon his fourth-place NCAA finish in 2011.
Dom Bradley
College: Missouri
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 120 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Olympic Team Trials Performance: After dropping his first match to Trice, Bradley, a 2009 Junior World champion, rebounded to defeat Justin Grant. He was then eliminated by Steve Mocco.
Looking Ahead: Bradley split time with 2009 NCAA champion Mark Ellis for two seasons before eventually becoming the full-time starter in 2010-11. In his first season as the full-time starter, Bradley finished third at the NCAAs, losing to eventual NCAA champion Zack Rey of Lehigh. Bradley will be one of the top contenders to finish on top of the NCAA podium in 2013.
Chad Hanke
College: Oregon State
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 120 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 1
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Hanke went 1-2. He lost his first match to Les Sigman, rebounded to defeat John Helgerson, and was then knocked out of the competition by Jarod Trice.
Looking Ahead: Hanke has one more season of eligibility remaining at Oregon State. He has had an underwhelming college career to date, but has improved tremendously over the past year and should be in the hunt for an NCAA title at heavyweight. This past season Hanke wrestled unattached as a redshirt and was the only wrestler to defeat Oklahoma State's Alan Gelogaev.
Justin Grant
College: Bloomsburg
Olympic Team Trials Weight Class: 120 kilos
College Seasons Remaining: 2
Olympic Team Trials Performance: Grant opened with a 32-second fall over James Friedrich, but dropped his next match to Tervel Dlagnev in two periods. He came back to defeat Charles Fish, but his run ended after losing his next match to Dom Bradley.
Looking Ahead: Grant started his college career at Kutztown, a Division II program, and spent two seasons there before transferring to Bloomsburg last year. He posted a record of 18-15 while redshirting this past season. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining.
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