2021 NCAA All-American Taylor LaMont (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)If you think back hard enough, you may remember that your timeline was blowing up with random wrestler names and the hashtag #MatScoutsDynasty just over a year ago. That was the inaugural draft of the MatScouts Dynasty Fantasy League.
Since then, deals were made, duals were waged, and teams were sent to a grand National Tournament in March vying to be the Top Fantasy Wrestling Team in the Dynasty League. We now enter Season 2 of the #MatScoutsDynasty League, so let's catch you up to where all the teams stand.
As a refresher, here is the basic point scoring rules:
ex: if your wrestler beats Spencer Lee by Dec, your wrestler would get +3 for the Dec and another +6 for beating the #1 ranked wrestler.
If your wrestler loses by Dec to Spencer Lee, your wrestler is penalized only for -1 pt.
Team JHagger
Team Manager: Tony Hager (@hagertony) & Jagger Noir (@Jagger712)
How It Started:
Tony Hager is the owner/founder of IA wrestle and occasionally he likes to have a beer or three (#SingleSpeedBrewing). Tony was the 5th pick in the inaugural MatScouts Dynasty League draft. Due to some scheduling conflicts after the draft was completed, Tony Hager hired a Day-to-Day Manager, who took the time away from selling a guy a pair of white walls to run the organization. You know him as Jagger712, and thus team JHagger was born.
For Tony's full draft recap, see the full draft board HERE
Hindsight Draft Review:
First Round Pick (#1 Overall): In a dynasty league, getting an “anchor†of a wrestler to hold down starting duties for the foreseeable future is always at a premium. “Falling†to midway of the 1st round, Team JHagger selected 165 Mekhi Lewis (VT) with the 5th overall pick, who was a returning National Champ and had the opportunity to be a 5x National Champion. An injury towards the end of the regular season unfortunately derailed that dream, but with an offseason to heal, Lewis hopefully returns to healthy form (up a weight too).
Great Picks: There was never a doubt that 285 Gannon Gremmel (ISU) was going to be the starter, but with how deep 285 is he seemed to get a little lost in the shuffle. Selected #236 overall (mid-24th round), he entered the National Tournament as the #6 seed after going 11-1 in the regular season and winning the Big XII Championships. Unfortunately from a Fantasy standpoint, five of those wins were against non-D1 opponents and thus did not count.
Hindsight is always 2020, especially when analyzing something that happened more than a year ago. But on the 7th round, #1 overall recruit AJ Ferrari (OKST) was selected (#65 overall). He fell to being the 10th True Freshman to be selected, but finished as the #2 Fantasy Wrestler at 197 and the 11th Overall Fantasy Wrestler.
Under The Radar Pick: No one can predict injuries, but it's always been part of the sport so having a dependable backup is always something to seek. Backing up their #5 overall pick was 165 Tanner Skidgel (NAVY) who was selected with the #185 overall pick. Skidgel finished as the #6 wrestler in Fpts at 165 last season.
A Miss For This Season: Before the announcement that the Ivy League was cancelling all Winter Championships, 125 Vito Arujau (COR) was a consensus Top-5 in the weight. As such, he was picked in the 2nd Round, 10th overall.
Outside of that, 184 Abe Assad proved last season he was an All American contender and was selected by Team JHagger in the 4th Round. Unfortunately as the wrestling world found out later, Nelson Brands would get the start with Assad not seeing any mat time during the regular season, even in Extra Matches.
How The Season Played Out:
The regular season was successful in terms of Total Points, finishing in 5th Place , whereas they hit a losing streak of 6 straight duals before finishing the regular season with 2 wins. In all, Team JHagger finished in the Dual Standings at the 7th spot, earning 8 additional bonus team points for his NCAA score.
See the full Dual and Total Points Standings HERE
Despite weight changes and some season cancellations (and NCAA imposed suspensions), Team JHagger only had to dip into the Transfer Portal a couple of times for some plug-n'-plays in the regular season:
- Drop 149 Kizahn Clarke (American), adds 141 Dylan Duncan (Illinois)
- Drop 184 Jacob Holschlag (UNI), adds 133 Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma)
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Team JHagger was also involved in one during the season:
- 1/15/2021: Traded 141 Tariq Wilson (NC State) to Cael Chips for 184 Nelson Brands (Iowa)
2021 NCAA Tournament
Team JHagger approached the 2021 NCAA Tournament with this End-of-Season Roster:
And this is the lineup Ian/Tony entered for Nationals:
With 104 team points from the NCAA National Tournament (and the added bonus earned during the regular season), Team JHagger finished in 6th place in the #MatScoutsDynasty League Standings for the inaugural season.
Team JHagger Entering the 2022 Season Draft
It doesn't take a Rocket Surgeon to figure out that the glaring need for Team JHagger is at 165. Other immediate depth concerns lay with the bookends of 125 and 285 as it is still up in the air if Vito is going 125 or 133 this coming season. 141 could also use a youth injection too. This roster composition is pretty diversified for the coming 2022 regular season, but drafting will be a big part of this team's success in 2022 and on.
Team JHagger is the #5 pick in the draft this season on October 18, 2021. Who should he target? Should he drop anyone before the draft? What weights need depth? Should he look to trade? who?
Let us know!
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