125: The Nahshon Garrett upset of Matt McDonough makes two plotlines for the All-American round tonight. First, it'll be interesting to see what Garrett's shots can do against Jesse Delgado of Illinois, who had consistently stymied McDonough's offense this season. If Garrett can find a way to take down Delgado, he has the type of top game that could manage the match enough to squeak out a win. Do you really bet against a Cornell lightweight at the NCAA tournament? According to Troy Nickerson and Travis Lee you don't. The second is just how will McDonough wrestle in the consolations, a place he's never seen at the NCAA tournament?
The top side matchup between Missouri's Alan Waters and Nico Megaludis will most likely be decided by a single takedown. Low-scoring matches means it's likely that the result will come down to Megaludis' ability to defend Waters' early offense. Look for a Megaludis' to use his patented splits on the edge of the mat. If he can control the early aggression, and escape from bottom, I like his counter offense to deliver the Nittany Lions their first finalist of the night.
133: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) showed just how dominant he can be when he exploded for a 17-1 quarterfinal technical fall of Cody Brewer (Oklahoma). He'll face A.J. Schopp who impressed from top in his quarterfinal matchup, but even that won't be enough to overcome the skills of the top-seeded Buckeye. This match will be decided on the mat, and that should favor Stieber.
Tony Ramos (Iowa) and Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) will renew their rivalry on the other side of the bracket. Though Ramos won the last match 3-1 and is wrestling at home with the support of a rabidly Iowa crowd, expect Graff to stick with them on their feet. The edge, where Ramos pushes opponents and finds the space to score, will decide this match. If Graff relaxes on the edge, Ramos will earn the takedown and the win.
141: Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) escaped the grasp of No. 9 Richard Durso (Franklin & Marshall) in the quarterfinals, but in doing so showed some vulnerability from his feet and in transitional positions. He's in trouble against Mitchell Port. The Edinboro No. 4 seed is a wrestler with similarities to Durso, but with the additional help of being trained by Tim Flynn. Call for the upset.
The Citadel's K. Undrakhbayar (Meaning: Effusive Happiness) upset No. 3 Mike Mangrum of Oregon State in double OT rideout. In winning, Ugi became the second Citadel semifinalist in school history, the second All-American, and the first Mongolian since Ganbayar Sanjaa to place at NCAAs. He's a feel-good story, but Ugi is going to have trouble slowing down Kendric Maple of Oklahoma. If he does it'll be from the left side front head that he's used all season to frustrate and open up his opponents. Maple is still the heavy favorite.
149: Jordan Oliver will face Steve Santos of Columbia in the top quarterfinal. Santos is that school's first semifinalist since 1978 and has been wrestling well. Unfortunately he's run into a buzzsaw.
Bracket buster Drake Houdashelt of Missouri needed every ounce and every second of two rideouts to get past Kevin Tao of American. The Missouri wrestler is hot, and will face Boise State's Jason Chamberlain who won a 2-1 rideout against Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State). Chamberlain is excellent at winning tight matches and this should be the end of Houdashelt's run. However, with an excellent top game, the Sammie Henson effect and a serviceable and solid defense on his feet, I'd look for a much closer match than expected in the semifinals.
157: The match of the tournament might belong to Jason Welch of Northwestern and Dylan Alton of Penn State. Welch utilized aggressive but loose attacks to create scrambles where he could find takedowns and back points. His big-move style and control on top will be more than enough to beat David Bonin, the unseeded bracket buster from Northern Iowa.
Derek St. John (Iowa) and Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) are meeting in what might be an entertaining clash of styles, or a snoozer. St. John won the first match 8-4, but the Cowboy wrestler is competing like he's a brand new version of his youthful self. If Dieringer can finish clean and avoid funk rolls he should be able to keep it closer. Both are areas you might expect to head coach John Smith would have worked before the semifinals begin. Dieringer is special and could prove it this round with the upset of the returning NCAA finalist.
165: The collision course is still set, but as Taylor seems to be enjoying the spotlight and wrestling like an NCAA champion, Dake is much more tentative. The Cornell wrestler earned a 13-0 win in the quarters but wasn't his normal cheery self. Meanwhile Taylor is 3-3 on falls after a 24-second fall in the quarters, and will meet Peter Yates of Virginia Tech.
Dake will have the tougher of the two matchups, facing off against Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) who he beat 4-1 earlier in the season. Caldwell is a difficult matchup for Dake, but I'd still expect a several point victory and a meeting with Taylor in the finals
174: Maybe the best matchup of the semifinals comes in a weight class many thought was in utter disarray heading into these championships. Logan Storley (Minnesota) will face Matt Brown (Penn State) in a rematch of the Southern Scuffle semifinals where Storley caught Brown on his back in a scramble. The Nittany Lion will look to avenge the loss and is wrestling tough enough to get the job done. If Brown can control the mistakes from scrambles that cost him in their first match, and the dual meet against Mike Evans, then he should come away with the victory and finals appearance.
The topside has Oklahoma State's Chris Perry facing Nebraska's Bob Kokesh. Perry looked sloppy against Nick Helfin of Ohio State, gutting out an overtime win, while Kokesh earned a major against Josh Asper of Maryland. If Kokesh can get his offense going early, it should be his match to lose. If he hesitates and keeps it close until the final whistle, Perry will find a way to squeak it out.
184: Ed Ruth and Steve Bosak will meet as returning NCAA champions looking for a chance to repeat. Boask, who started the season late is finally starting to catch form, but will it be enough to stop Ruth who has cruised in all his matches? Unlikely. Though Bosak has found his way to the semifinals, expect to see Ruth continue his domination and earn a spot in the finals.
Ben Bennett of Central Michigan and Robert Hamlin meet in the other semifinal. Bennett is now a four-time All-American with a chance to make the finals in his senior season. Bennett beat Bosak 2-1 at Midlands and with a healthier body and the type of style it takes to beat Hamlin, look for Bennett to win and make his first NCAA finals.
197: Penn Stater Quentin Wright's headlock of Scott Schiller (Minnesota) was the highlight of the 197 quarterfinals. The senior is a pinner and he's "feeling it" on Friday. He'll meet Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh) who he recently pinned during their dual meet, but who likewise earned the fall against Q in the NWCA All-Star Classic. Wilps looked like a hammer against Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) in the quarterfinals. But expect Quentin to throw too much at Wilps, find back points and earn another trip to the finals.
Kent State's Dustin Kilgore will meet Taylor Meeks of Oregon State in a match that should've been a walk through for Kilgore, but after quarterfinals might be tighter than expected. Meeks has strong top game and is an adept scrambler. If he can hand fight with Kilgore and score on a reshot of his won, he can make the match much closer than many would expect. However, if Kilgore can find his attacks and win even one scramble, he'll open up a lead that would be difficult for Meeks to overcome.
285: Mizzou's Dom Bradley was contented with an overtime ride-out win in the quarters against Zac Thomusseit (Pitt). He'll need to bring a lot more to his semifinals match against returning All-American and No. 5 seed Mike McMullan of Northwestern. The B1G Ten wrestler is a mover, and though he'll be outweighed by 20-plus pounds, he's always willing to cause a scramble and take shots. Bradley won the first match 3-2 and will need to stay in good position again to find energy for the reshots. If Bradley stays in position, he can win, but if he stands too tall or gets into an unnecessary scramble, then it'll be McMullan's match and first trip to the finals.
Returning NCAA champion, Tony Nelson of Minnesota will face Oklahoma State's Alan "Z" Gelogaev, who the Gopher has bested twice this season, once by decision and once by pin. It's worth noting that last season Z earned a 16-5 major decision against Nelson. The results are all over the place, but if Nelson can keep it close, he'll win. That simple. But if the scoring starts early it'll be tough for the big man to generate his offense and climb back from even a two-point hole.
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