Nickerson has only lost twice at the NCAAs while donning a Cornell singlet. Coming into this season, he was 3-0 in college career against Escobedo. When the two NCAA champions and three-time All-Americans met in the finals of the Southern Scuffle in December, Nickerson's shoulder popped out in the first period ... and he was forced to injury default. Escobedo has been on fire this season. He has been able to stay healthy for the first time in a while ... and has benefited from the return of Joe Dubuque to the Indiana coaching staff. Expect a tight finals match with Nickerson getting the only takedown, which will be enough to propel him to victory.
133: No. 1 Jayson Ness (Minnesota) over No. 3 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
Ness has been the most dominant college wrestler in the country this season (no apologies). He is 26-0 with 18 pins. He crushed No. 2 Dennis of Iowa, 9-3, in the Big Ten finals. Defending NCAA champion Gomez catches a break when his nemesis, Dennis, gets picked off by Cornell's Grey in the quarterfinals. Ness wins comfortably (four to six points) over Gomez in the finals.
141: No. 3 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) over No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell)
Thorn is red-hot heading into the NCAAs. He blitzed through his weight class at the Big Tens, avenging his last regular season loss to Marion, hammering him to the tune of 12-3, before avenging a Nationals Duals loss to Humphrey in the finals. When Thorn is on, he is very difficult to beat. If things play out according to seeds (don't expect them to in this balanced weight class), Thorn will have the opportunity to avenge losses to Parks in the semifinals and Dake in the finals. Dake may be a true freshman, but you would never know it from watching him compete. He is very confident in his abilities, wrestles well from all positions, and is especially tenacious on the mat. Look for Thorn to feed off teammate Ness' success, much like he did at the Big Tens, and give the Gophers two NCAA champions in the first three weight classes.
149: No. 2 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) over No. 1 Lance Palmer (Ohio State)
Palmer made a strong statement at the Big Tens that he is not about to concede the title in his senior season to Metcalf. He wrestled as if Metcalf was trying to take something away that is his. Palmer has to be careful not to look ahead to the finals against Metcalf. Ruschell has a win over Palmer this season and wrestled him to a one-point match at the Big Tens. Metcalf should cruise to the finals on the bottom side. A Palmer-Metcalf rematch would be electric. As long as Metcalf blocks out what happened in St. Louis last March and Ann Arbor two weeks ago, he should finish his career as a two-time NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist.
157: No. 5 Steve Fittery (American) over No. 2 Adam Hall (Boise State)
This is perhaps the most wide-open weight class. Schlatter is the most credentialed wrestler in the field, but after missing the Big Tens due to injury, a title run seems unlikely. He has made a habit of wrestling injured throughout his career, but his latest injury, which just occurred a couple weeks ago, might be too much to overcome in such a short period of time. Fittery, a transfer to American from Division II Shippensburg (Pennsylvania), where he was a two-time NCAA runner-up, has impressed me all season. Of his 30 victories, 26 have come with bonus points. He's strong and solid in all positions. A Midlands champion this season, Fittery has thrived under Mark Cody's tutelage. The undefeated O'Connor will be looking to erase the memories of last March when he failed to reach the podium for the first time in his career. I look for Hall to come out of the bottom side, although his first round draw didn't do him any favors. I sure wouldn't want to start my tournament by wrestling the always-dangerous and exciting Jonny Bonilla-Bowman.
165: No. 2 Jarrod King (Edinboro) over No. 4 Jon Reader (Iowa State)
There isn't much separation between the top seven wrestlers in this weight class. Most have wrestled one another ... and virtually every one of the matches has been decided by two points or less. Howe is undefeated, but has not been able to create much separation from the other contenders. He wrestled two-point matches in the semifinals and finals of the Big Tens. At the Midlands in December, Marable took Howe to the tiebreaker, while Reader took him to sudden victory. I look for Reader to bounce back from his Big 12 finals loss and upset Howe in the semifinals. King is the defending NCAA champion and second seed, but still seems to get overlooked by many ... most likely because he's the lone wrestler in the top seven who does not compete in the Big Ten or Big 12. I'll take King to not only come out of the bottom side, but also win his second straight NCAA title, joining Penn's Matt Valenti as one of the recent unheralded two-time NCAA champions.
174: No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 2 Jay Borschel (Iowa)
Lewnes and Borschel have clearly separated themselves from the field this season. Both are coming off disappointing NCAA tournaments and both are undefeated. Dwyer has kept it close with both Lewnes (5-3) and Borschel (10-7). As the No. 4 seed, Dwyer will likely have to get past Lewnes to reach the finals. Henrich, a returning All-American, is one of the nation's hottest wrestlers. He has not suffered a defeat since December 29, when he lost in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, 6-1, to Lewnes. When the dust settles, though, I expect it to be Lewnes and Borschel wrestling for the title ... with the Big Red junior coming out on top.
184: No. 4 Mike Cannon (American) over No. 6 Max Askren (Missouri)
Do you want to know how deep this weight class is? An NCAA champion will battle an NCAA runner-up in a pigtail match. That same NCAA champion (and three-time All-American) is the No. 10 seed. The No. 9 seed is a two-time All-American, as is the No. 6 seed. Interestingly, the top two seeds, Smith and Dergo, failed to reach the podium last season, but both have looked like different competitors this season. Smith is unbeaten and Dergo has only lost to Smith and Askren. (He later avenged the loss to Askren.) I really like the way Cannon is competing right now, which is why he's my pick to win the title and become American's second NCAA champion after Fittery. His last (and only) loss came to Dergo in sudden victory in the finals of the Midlands in December. Since then, he has won 14 straight matches ... with 11 victories during that stretch coming with bonus points, including six pins, two technical falls, and three major decisions.
197: No. 1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) over No. 2 Craig Brester (Nebraska)
Varner is a monster ... extremely strong, technical, and difficult to score on. He is looking to become Iowa State's second four-time NCAA finalist (Cael Sanderson was the other) and 14th in NCAA history. He has his sights set on a World title this year in freestyle ... and the NCAAs serve as a road stop along the way. He should breeze to the finals where he will likely see his longtime Big 12 rival Brester, who always battles him tough. Brester will be game, but Varner is just too solid to lose
285: No. 2 Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State) over No. 4 Konrad Dudziak (Duke)
Zabriskie enters the event as the No. 1 seed for the second straight season after winning his third Big 12 title, becoming the first Iowa State heavyweight ever to accomplish the feat. Zabriskie was knocked off in the semifinals last season by Dudziak, which is what I see happening again. The Duke heavyweight, a native of Poland, has seen limited action this season because of a reported off-the-mat incident, but is undefeated and looking to become Duke's first NCAA wrestling champion ever. He flies under the radar because he wrestles for a basketball school. I look for Rosholt, a three-time All-American, to come out of the bottom bracket and eventually take out Dudziak in the finals.
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