The last two NCAA champions in this weight should do battle in this year's final match, as Nickerson caps off his career with back-to-back titles overcoming injury. However, the future of this weight is in the Cy-Hawk rivalry, as redshirt freshmen Andrew Long (Iowa State) and Matt McDonough (Iowa) both project to the semifinals.
133: No. 1 Jayson Ness (Minnesota) over No. 3 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
Seeking that elusive title, the senior Ness will have to go through two of the nation's finest redshirt freshmen in Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) and Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) prior to a collision in the final with defending NCAA champion Franklin Gomez (Michigan State).
141: No. 4 Reece Humphrey (Ohio State) over No. 10 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh)
The bracket in this weight is interesting with the best performing wrestler during the course of the year -- true freshman Kyle Dake (Cornell) -- and the highest returning placer, runner-up Humphrey -- paired in the top half of the draw. The bottom half of the draw is wide open, and I like Nauman to clear that half; remember that it was this wrestler who provided J Jaggers with his toughest challenge on the way to his second national title with an overtime match in the round of 16 last year.
149: No. 2 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) over No. 1 Lance Palmer (Ohio State)
Even though Metcalf was knocked off by Palmer in the Big Ten final, it seems that the draw worked out to the detriment of Palmer -- even with the No. 1 seed. Palmer would be projected to having to defeat Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin) in the semifinal, and Ruschell has served as a nemesis to Palmer in the past. Other than matches with Palmer, Metcalf has steamed through the competition in this weight class.
157: No. 6 Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota) over No. 1 J.P. O'Connor (Harvard)
Even with the sixth seed, the fifth-year senior Schlatter does not seem to have that tough a path to the championship match, with all other returning All-Americans in the top half of the draw headed by the undefeated O'Connor. Schlatter is my pick to end his career with four All-American finishes bookended by NCAA titles.
165: No. 4 Jon Reader (Iowa State) over No. 10 Alex Meade (Oklahoma State)
Want to know how tough this weight class is? Returning third-place finisher Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) is the seventh seed, with the supremely talented redshirt freshman Meade awaiting in the round of 16 as the 10th seed. Five other wrestlers could easily see themselves in the Saturday night final on the raised mat.
174: No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 2 Jay Borschel (Iowa)
This weight class is arguably the most defined in determining its two top wrestlers. It has been truly impressive to observe as Lewnes and Borschel have overcome disappointing NCAA tournaments last year -- having finished third in 2008, but failing to All-American in 2009, with undefeated seasons in 2009-10.
184: No. 6 Max Askren (Missouri) over No. 1 Kirk Smith (Boise State)
On the other hand, this weight has incredibly little definition on top, and tons of quality. Two testaments to this: (1) returning national runners-up Mike Pucillo (Ohio State), the 10th seed, and Mike Miller (Central Michigan) have been drawn to meet in the rat-tail match (2) Top seed, undefeated Kirk Smith (Boise State) would have to be considered on upset alert in the first round against Jerome Ward (Iowa State). However, when the day is done, I like the senior Askren to come through with an NCAA title to help make up for some unfulfilling NCAA tournaments past.
197: No. 1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) over No. 3 Hudson Taylor (Maryland)
Despite not necessarily wrestling a fan-friendly style -- leading to message board nicknames like "Varnish," -- Jake Varner is about to culminate a truly superlative collegiate wrestling career. One with four finals appearances, two titles, and a 120-10 career record. Even more impressive is that he already has appeared in the World Championships, and is being predicted to close out his last three years at 91-3. Look for Taylor to make that step up from third place the last two years with a finals appearance in the bottom half of the draw.
285: No. 2 Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State) over No. 5 Daniel Erekson (Iowa)
In what is truly a wide open weight class, I like Rosholt to find some of his brother's mid-March magic and come through with a championship this weekend. Remember that it was Erekson's performance in consolations that allowed Iowa to sneak out with an NCAA title last year after the majority of their squad had underperformed. He was down late in his match to earn All-American, rallied to win that one and then came all the way back to take third place.
Top Five Teams:
1. Iowa
2. Cornell
3. Minnesota
4. Iowa State
5. Oklahoma State
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now