Ohio State's Kaleb Romero (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Week 9 is still going on, but we Fantasy Wrestling Coaches are well aware that Week 10 start EARLY with teams locking on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday before the jam-packed weekend and start of the back half of the season appropriately known as "Dual-a-palooza" (maybe that's just me).
Teams locking early in Week 10:
Locking Monday: American, Arizona State, Michigan, and Ohio State
Locking Tuesday: Indiana and Ohio
Locking Thursday: Brown, Franklin & Marshall, and Iowa State (against non-D1 but has a dual on Sunday 1/9)
Hopefully, Indiana is able to wrestle their scheduled match with Ohio on January 4th as they had to drop out of the Matmen Open due to Covid concerns. I am going to operate as if they are, until told otherwise (even though the dual with Penn State REALLY hurts their guy's FCW stock this week).
Again, these "Early Lock" articles are short and sweet to help with your decision-making with early locking wrestlers on your roster. I've added a little discussion at the end of each weight as there are some high-ranked names not listed.
Keep an eye out for the Week 10 Outlook article and an ear for the #FCWpodcast later this week.
Got a question? Got a Recommendation? Let me know. I can be reached @FantasyD1wrestl.
Wrestlers I Like This Week
Wrestler (School)- competition for the week [Proj Score]
*Organized by tournament name first, then by school name*
125:
Pat Phillips (Franklin & Marshall)- Vs Brown, Vs Presbyterian, F&M Open [+6]
Malik Heinselman (Ohio State)- @ American, @ Michigan State [+7]
Jacob Moran (Indiana)- @ Ohio, @ Penn State [+3]* (if Hildebrandt doesn't wrestle)
The unveiling of Nick Suriano in the maize and blue singlet? Quite possibly. Do I have confidence that he will win if he wrestles? I guess I should; he's only lost 7 matches in his career, two of them by 2 or more pts (6-4 to DeSanto in 2019 and 5-1 to Spencer Lee in the Finals of the 2018 NCAAs). BUT, we haven't seen him on a folkstyle mat since 2019 and his opponent, Brandon Courtney, is coming off of a week where he outscored his opponents 37-14 (11-3 score before pinning Acevedo), including a major of Jakob Camacho. Courtney also has a dual against Iowa State on Sunday, January 9th, which he is heavily favored.
133:
Michael McGee (Arizona State)- Vs Michigan, Vs Iowa State [+6]
Yeah, McGee is coming off a loss from Roman Bravo-Young but then again, who hasn't recently? Ragusin is coming off a CKLV title where he beat then #6 Chris Cannon. I'll give the advantage to McGee in this one.
Before Indiana had to cancel their entry to the Matmen Open, Brock Hudkins was one of my deep dive picks to make a run. His Matchup with Mario Guillen is tough to call as Guillen has only wrestled once this season. Either way, I don't think the match will be bonus enough to offset the more than likely loss to RBY on Sunday 1/9.
141:
Wil Gil (Franklin & Marshall)- Vs Brown, Vs Presbyterian, F&M Open [+7]
Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State)- @ American, @ Michigan State [+7]
Stevan Micic (Michigan)- Vs Arizona State [+4]
He's listed on ASU's review to be wrestling, but Jesse Vasquez looked to have tweaked something at the National Collegiate Duals in his match against Nick Lee. Now, it could be nothing and maybe he's 100%. Even though Stevan Micic is in the same boat as Nick Suriano of not being on a folkstyle mat since 2019, I like the matchup against Vasquez better to have the confidence in picking him to win.
Wil Gil of Franklin & Marshall met Bierdumpfel earlier this year and walked off the mat with a 10-7 Decision. But aside from having two winnable matches this week, Gil offers great fantasy plays for the next few weeks, too, if you have room to stash him.
149:
Blake Saito (Brown)- Vs Franklin & Marshall, Vs Presbyterian (@F&M), F&M Open [+8]
Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)- @ American, @ Michigan State [+8]
Kyle Parco (Arizona State)- Vs Michigan, Vs Iowa State [+6]
I'm assuming Kanen Storr is going to be wrestling, but he had what looked to be a bad knee injury at CKLV. That was a month ago, so hopefully, he's back to competitive health, but whether it's Storr at 75%, Lamer off redshirt, or someone else, I am giving the edge to Parco and feel confident rolling with him against Degen as well (2-0 against him last NCAAs)
157:
Jack Bokina (Brown)- Vs Franklin & Marshall, Vs Presbyterian (@F&M), F&M Open [+8]
Will Lewan seems to like keeping matches close, as shown by his current record, having half his matches (win or loss) finish with two points. In their last meeting in March 2021, Jacori Teemer came away with the 4-2 SV win in the Round of 16. The only problem is, he is scheduled to face David Carr on Sunday sooooo…
165:
Anthony Valencia (Arizona State)- Vs Michigan, Vs Iowa State [+8]
Carson Kharchla (Ohio State)- @ American, @ Michigan State [+7]
Anthony Valencia is heavily favored against Iowa State's Austin Kraisser for their dual on Sunday 1/9/2022, but has a battle of a match on Monday 1/3/2022 against Cam Amine. Cam absolutely has the ability for an upset, but I have to go with the hot hand. Besides, even if Cam wins, Valencia can still net positive for the week.
174:
Ethan Smith (Ohio State)- @ American. @ Michigan State [+8]
Logan Massa (Michigan)- Vs Arizona State [+4]
The Super Senior vs the third-year freshman. This starts a two-weight gap for ASU where Michigan can take advantage for bonus point opportunities. This is assuming, of course, that ASU doesn't pull Cael Valencia's redshirt, which would make me think is closer to a tossup with the edge to Massa.
184:
Kaleb Romero (Ohio State)- @ American [+7]
Myles Amine- Vs Arizona State [+5]
Marcus Coleman (Iowa State)- @ Arizona State [+4]
Coming off his Matmen title where he finally beat Mark Hall (albeit after he graduated) where he looked pretty dominant (7-0 win over 2021 6th place AA Brit Wilson). Another weight where ASU will probably give up bonus points given the current run Amine is on.
Donnell Washington is 9-0 on the season… with eight pins. I don't expect a pin in this match for Washington; I actually expect it to be a closer to a decision. Which does not help in making a case to start him because he's also scheduled to face Aaron Brooks a few days later (outlook: not good).
197:
Kordell Norfleet and Pat Brucki are neck-and-neck in every ranking from InterMat to WrestleStat. They have records of 10-2 to 6-2 and bonus rates of 66% and 63%, respectively, and both have lost by Decision to Jake Woodley this season. This is a toss-up match which has me questioning like Larry David on who I think will win.
285:
Vincenzo Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall)- Vs Brown, Vs Presbyterian, F&M Open [+7]
Tate Orndorff (Ohio State)- @ American [+6]
Mason Parris (Michigan)- Vs Arizona State [+3]
We didn't get to see the Cohlton Schultz-Kerviliet match we all were waiting for a couple weeks ago due to a "Coach's Decision," which would have given me a better idea of how to judge this coming match with Mason Parris. Parris didn't wrestle at CKLV and has only been to one tournament (Cleveland State Open) where he dominated with two pins, one tech, and two majors against unranked opponents. I want to pick Parris all day long (and not just because he's on my #MatScoutsDynasty team), but I think this might be closer than some think.
I had higher expectations for Righter this season, not to say he hasn't been producing, but he hasn't been able to get over the hump of beating a ranked opponent. I don't think it starts with Orndorff, so I'm picking the Buckeye with a possibility of bonus too.
Think I missed someone? Disagree with someone on the list or their projection? Let me know!
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