Indiana's Nick South, who beat multiple NCAA qualifiers, failed to earn an at-large berth (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)The 64 at-large selections for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were announced Tuesday. Overall, the NCAA Wrestling Committee did a nice job of ensuring the most deserving wrestlers received at-large selections. The selections were made busing the following criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins (defined as wins against wrestlers already in the field), coaches ranking, results against common opponents, conference tournament placement and winning percentage. Subjective criteria, like past performance, could also be used, according to the NCAA.
Let's examine 10 notable wrestlers -- one in each weight class -- who failed to qualify for NCAAs.
125: Cody Phippen (Air Force)
Phippen, a sophomore, had a strong season, compiling a 12-4 record. Three of his four losses came against NCAA qualifiers (two to Oklahoma State's Trevor Mastrogiovanni and one to WVU's Killian Cardinale). He entered the Big 12 Championships seeded No. 6. After falling in the quarterfinals to Mastrogiovanni in sudden victory, Phippen rebounded with a victory before losing to Iowa State's Kysen Terukina. That loss is likely what kept him out of the tournament as Terukina received an at-large selection.
133: Haiden Drury (Fresno State)
The true freshman from Washington had an up-and-down season, finishing with a 9-7 mark. His most notable win came on Feb. 6 when he defeated Northern Colorado's Mosha Schwartz, who was ranked No. 7 at the time. The two would meet again in the opening round of the Big 12 Championships, with Schwartz coming out on top this time, 7-2. Drury bounced back with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket before facing Schwartz for a third time this season in the consolation semifinals. Once again, Schwartz came out on top, 14-4, which sent Drury to the fifth-place match. He dropped that match to South Dakota's State's Zach Price, 8-1.
141: Sammy Hillegas (Virginia Tech)
Hillegas, a true freshman from Pennsylvania, found himself on the outside looking in after a disappointing ACC tournament, where he went 0-2. He dropped his opening match at the ACCs to Pitt's Cole Matthews in tiebreaker. He then fell to Virginia's Brian Courtney, 7-2. Hillegas started his season 4-0 before going 1-5 over his last six matches to finish the season 5-5. All five of his losses came against NCAA qualifiers. Hillegas may have qualified for the NCAAs in a normal season, but with a loaded conference tournament weight class and limited schedule, he was unable to get the quality wins needed to earn a qualifying spot.
NC State's Ed Scott had a win over three-time NCAA qualifier Josh Finesilver of Duke (Photo/NC State Athletics)149: Ed Scott (North Carolina State)
Scott stepped into NC State's lineup as a true freshman and had a productive season. He notched a win over three-time NCAA qualifier Josh Finesilver of Duke in his final match of the regular season. Scott entered the ACC tournament seeded third, one spot ahead of Finesilver. He opened his tournament by defeating Pitt's Mick Burnett. Scott then fell in the semifinals to Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian, 11-6. He came back to beat Virginia's Denton Spencer before losing to Finesilver by major decision in the third-place match.
157: Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State)
Sheets, a 2020 NCAA qualifier, had his most disappointing loss when it mattered most, which is ultimately what kept him out of the NCAA tournament. Seeded sixth at the Big 12 Championships, Sheets opened his tournament with a major decision. He then dropped his quarterfinal match to North Dakota State's Jared Franek, 7-5. Sheets was then paired with Alex Hornfeck of West Virginia in his first consolation match. The two met earlier in the season, with Sheets winning 8-2. This time it was Hornfeck who came out on top, 6-3.
165: Nick South (Indiana)
One might wonder why a wrestler with a 5-8 record is included on this list. But dig a little deeper and you will see that all eight of his losses this season came against NCAA qualifiers. In addition, he had wins over NCAA qualifiers David Ferrante of Northwestern and Jake Tucker of Michigan State. Indiana head wrestling coach Angel Escobedo shared his frustration on Twitter after South was left off the list of at-large selections on Tuesday.
Wow so my 165 pounder has two wins over auto qualifiers, was ranked 25th in the country, no bad losses and doesn't receive an At-Large bid? Doesn't make any sense when the goal is to have the best 33 guys in the country at the tournament.
�" Angel Escobedo (@driven2dominate) March 9, 2021
174: Jared Krattiger (Wisconsin)
Krattiger, like the aforementioned South, had a losing record in the Big Ten (4-5), but all of his losses this season came against NCAA qualifiers. He posted a 2-0 record against NCAA qualifier Jake Allar of Minnesota, with one of those wins coming at the Big Ten Championships.
184: Michael Battista (Virginia)
Battista looked like a solid bet to qualify for the NCAAs heading into the postseason. He took a 6-2 record to the ACC Championships and earned a No. 4 seed. The Virginia junior was edged in his first match by Pitt's Gregg Harvey, a wrestler he defeated earlier in the season. He then dropped his next match to UNC's Devin Kane, 8-3. Harvey, despite having a worse record, was selected over Battista for an at-large spot based on the higher conference finish and most recent head-to-head victory.
197: Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State)
Hoffman, who beat out 2019 NCAA qualifier Chase Singletary to earn his spot in the Buckeye lineup, was seeded ninth at the Big Ten Championships in a weight class with six qualification spots. He started his tournament by beating eighth-seeded Matt Wroblewski of Illinois, avenging a loss from earlier in the season. He was then defeated in the quarterfinals by top-seeded Eric Schultz of Nebraska, 2-0. Hoffman met Billy Janzer of Rutgers in his first consolation match. The two met earlier in the season, with Hoffman winning that meeting 3-2. Janzer flipped the result at the Big Tens, taking a 3-2 victory, which eliminated Hoffman from the tournament. Janzer earned one of the six at-large selections at 197 pounds, while Hoffman was left out.
285: Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville)
McKiernan, a 2019 NCAA qualifier, started his season by winning six of his first seven matches, before losing narrowly -- in sudden victory -- to Missouri's Zach Elam in the final match of the regular season. He was seeded sixth at the MAC Championships, which pitted him against the third-seeded Elam in the quarterfinals. Elam took the match 5-1. McKierman battled back to win his next two matches before losing 3-0 to Edinboro's Jon Spaulding in the consolation quarterfinals.
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