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    Jim Gibbons •

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    Laces Up: Jim Gibbons previews 149 pounds



    Big Ten Network and ESPN wrestling analyst Jim Gibbons knows wrestling. One of the best broadcasters in the business, Gibbons knows what it takes to win an NCAA championship both as an athlete and a coach. Who does Gibbons see as the favorite coming into this year's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis? Who does he think will have a breakout performance and exceed expectations as Mr. Upside? Gibbons will be previewing each of the 10 weight classes leading up to the NCAAs. Follow Jim on Twitter at @JGibLacesUp and let him know what you think if his previews and picks.

    Jason Tsirtsis (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)
    To this point I have stuck with No. 1 seeds. In general I think the seeding committee got the No. 1 seeds correct. If a No. 1 doesn't get to the finals it can be considered a true upset. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) carries the No. 1 seed at 149 pounds for the second year in a row. He placed fifth last season while not wrestling at one-hundred percent. Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) has been a spark for his team and is seeded fourth. Houdashelt beat Sorenson 2-1 in a hard-fought battle at the National Duals. Points will be tough to come by in the bottom half of the bracket too. Returning NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) and NCAA third-place finisher David Habat (Edinboro) could meet in the semifinals. They met earlier this season in the Midlands final, with Tsirtsis winning in tiebreaker.

    I'm picking the defending champion Tsirtsis to repeat. I wasn't sold that he could win again until the second period of his Big Ten finals match with Sorensen. Tsirtsis got the quick escape and immediately got on the attack, which shows me his mindset is right. He is very difficult to get out of position, but a healthy Houdashelt and Habat could challenge that notion. Sorensen, a freshman, has a bright future and could be one of the Hawkeyes' better shots to keep the finalist streak alive that dates back to 1989.

    The other storyline in this weight class is the number of wrestlers competing not at full strength. Last year's NCAA runner up Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State) did not get seeded. Neither did two-time All-American Hunter Stieber (Ohio State). Both sat out a portion of the season trying to heal. Check out bouts 67 and 68. Kindig has No. 3 Habat first round in bout 67. The loser gets the consolation pigtail match, and if he wins that match he gets the loser of Stieber and No. 14 Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra). In the weeds crazy!

    Tywon Claxton (Photo/Logan Riely, WOUB Digital)
    Looking for Mr. Upside ... freshman Alec Panteleo (Michigan) is looking good and has a lot of upside left to his career, but he's seeded about right. So it makes it difficult to come up with Mr. U. The Pac-12 champion, No. 10 Christian Pagdilao (Arizona State) could be an All-American. It's certainly tempting to take one of the returning All-Americans Kindig or Stieber. However, I'm going to the No. 11 seed Tywan Claxton (Ohio), a good athlete who owns a career win over Houdashelt. Playing a hunch here, with the injuries in this field, somebody is going to flip the switch and take advantage of an opportunity.

    Pick: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern)

    Mr. Upside: Tywan Claxton (Ohio)

    Previews:
    125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
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