The Ohio State freshman Tomasello has been on fire lately. He has won 14 straight matches heading into the NCAAs and has not dropped a match since Jan. 4. At the Big Tens he took out two-time NCAA champion Jesse Delgado of Illinois, and then beat Thomas Gilman of Iowa for the first time in his career. Those wins were confidence-builders for Tomasello, and I expect him to ride the momentum to an NCAA title. I see Cornell's Garrett returning to the NCAA finals, but for the second straight year coming up one win short of an NCAA title.
133: No. 1 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) over No. 2 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin)
It feels a bit strange picking the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds to reach the finals in a weight class that is so deep and balanced. Dardanes has wrestled a brutal schedule and just keeps winning. He's the lone unbeaten wrestler in the weight class and just seems to be a cut above his competition. He could have a quarterfinal match against Edinboro's A.J. Schopp, a wrestler who has given him trouble in the past. The two-time All-American Schopp has been injured, though, and it remains to be seen how much his injury will hinder him in St. Louis. Taylor moved up a weight class early in the season and has won 14 of his last 15 matches, with his only loss during that 15-match span coming to Dardanes in the Big Ten finals.
141: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over No. 2 Mitchell Port (Edinboro)
On Saturday, Stieber will join Pat Smith, Cael Sanderson and Kyle Dake in the four-time NCAA champions club. With Virginia Tech's Carter on Stieber's side of the bracket, Edinboro's Mitchell Port is his likely finals opponent. The two met on Feb. 15, with Stieber winning that match 6-3. I expect a similar result in the finals.
149: No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) over No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri)
Fans can expect to see tight, low-scoring matches in this weight class from the quarterfinals on. Tsirtsis isn't the type of wrestler who will light up the scoreboard, but he's a winner. Last year the bottom side of the bracket at 149 pounds was turned upside down, and Oklahoma State's Josh Kindig reached the finals as the No. 11 seed. Kindig is back in the weight class, as is two-time All-American Hunter Stieber of Ohio State. Both come into St. Louis banged up and unseeded. Could they be bracket busters? Stay tuned.
157: No. 3 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) over No. 4 James Green (Nebraska)
Isaiah Martinez of Illinois looks unstoppable right now. He's a 20-year-old freshman, but already exudes the confidence of a multiple-time NCAA champion. Martinez is a breath of fresh air. In an era of college wrestling in which scoring seems to be at an all-time low, Martinez is putting up double-digit points every time he steps on the mat. Martinez has stomped everyone in his path, including Minnesota's Dylan Ness. However, Ness has proven time and again that he shines brightest in front of large crowds and on big stages. As a freshman, Ness reached the NCAA finals as the No. 7 seed in St. Louis. Last year, after an up-and-down season, Ness entered the NCAAs as the No. 9 seed. He stunned top-seeded James Green of Nebraska in the quarterfinals and beat No. 4 Ian Miller of Kent State in the semifinals, before losing to Oklahoma State's Alex Dieringer in the finals. It may be against my better judgment to pick against Isaiah Martinez, but I have a feeling Dylan Ness is saving his best for last, just like his brother Jayson did five years ago in Omaha.
165: No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)
Dieringer has distanced himself from the pack at 165 pounds. He already owns two major decision victories this season over No. 2 Mike Moreno of Iowa State. His likely semifinals opponent will be Virginia's Nick Sulzer, a wrestler he defeated 8-2 at the Southern Scuffle. With Logan Stieber graduating this year, Dieringer will be the biggest star in college wrestling in 2015-16. Look for the Jordan cousins, Isaac and Bo, to finish high on the podium.
174: No. 1 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) over No. 6 Logan Storley (Minnesota)
The undefeated Kokesh has created some separation this season from his Big Ten rivals Matt Brown, Mike Evans and Logan Storley. In doing so he now finds himself on the opposite side of the bracket from those three. Kokesh has some formidable opponents on the top side of the bracket, but should cruise to the finals. The bottom side of the bracket with Brown, Evans and Storley is a crapshoot. The winner of the Evans-Storley quarterfinal match on Friday morning will likely get Brown in the semifinals on Friday night for a chance to wrestle in Saturday's NCAA finals. Storley had a strong NCAA tournament performance last year, finishing third, which included two victories over his friend and rival Kokesh. I expect the two South Dakota natives, Kokesh and Storley, to meet one last time, and it will happen on the big stage on Saturday night.
184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) over No. 7 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh)
Coming into this season it appeared Dean would establish himself as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country. But after taking two unexpected losses at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December, Dean was taken out of the pound-for-pound conversation overnight. He has since been on a roll, winning 23 straight matches heading into the NCAAs. Dean has been pushed a few times since Vegas, but keeps getting his hand raised. Old Dominion's Jack Dechow has battled Dean tough in past and can't be counted out. The bottom side of the bracket is deep and balanced, but I'm taking Lehigh's Brown to come through, which will set up a rematch from the EIWA finals.
197: No. 4 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) over No. 3 Kyven Gadson (Iowa State)
The much-anticipated J'den Cox-Kyle Snyder match should happen in the NCAA semifinals on Friday night. However, it's not the first time we have said that it should happen this season. The two were expected to meet on Dec. 14 when Missouri and Ohio State met in Columbus, but Cox moved up to heavyweight to fill in for the injured Devin Mellon. Then it looked like the match should finally happen in the semifinals of the National Duals on Feb. 21. But Lehigh upset Ohio State in the quarterfinals, which prevented the match from happening. I expect Snyder to bounce back in a big way from his loss to Penn State's Morgan McIntosh in the Big Ten finals. He will likely have to beat three returning All-Americans from the quarterfinals on to win the title, which seems almost unthinkable for a true freshman. But Snyder is no ordinary true freshman.
285: No. 6 Adam Coon (Michigan) over No. 5 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin)
Coon is among a group of six heavyweights that has a legitimate shot to finish as this year's NCAA champion. Over the past two seasons Coon has wins over three of the top five seeds, including NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State. He comes into St. Louis having won nine of his last 10 matches, which includes victories over No. 3 Bobby Telford of Iowa and No. 5 Connor Medbery of Wisconsin. Coon's only defeat during that 10-match span was a one-point loss to No. 2 Mike McMullan of Northwestern at the Big Tens. Coon will likely have to get past Telford in the quarterfinals, McMullan in the semifinals and Gwiazdowski, Marsden or Medbery in the finals.
Team:
1. Ohio State
2. Minnesota
3. Iowa
4. Missouri
5. Cornell
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