It's an exciting time to be a wrestling fan, but an even more thrilling time to be on the mat.
There is a lot of extra commentary that is sometimes poured atop wrestling, which can sometimes confuse and imbalance our own perception of the sport. But stripped down and seen through the lens of this is a battle of preparation and willpower, strength and wit.
The NCAAs garner much of the attention, but when watching wrestling from top-to-bottom, few weekends in the sport compare to the one weekend each year that hosts a half dozen NCAA Division I qualification tournaments across almost every time zone. There are many wrestlers who feel complete satisfaction with making the NCAA tournament and this is their weekend to do so. Last-second comebacks, unexpected upsets and heated team races will make this a great weekend for wrestling.
Also this weekend brings us closer to filling out our brackets! This year we will be re-welcoming a special one-time-only Back Points podcast with linemaker extraordinaire Brian Muir (@muirorless). Tune in and get a leg up on the lines.
To your questions …
Q: Please look into your crystal ball and tell us who is the 2016 NCAA champ by weight and the team champion.
-- David E.
Foley: As you may expect I have to remind you that this is heading into the conference weekend and will almost certainly change after the Resilite residue settles Sunday night …
125: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State)
133: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell)
141: Kevin Jack (NC State)
149: Zain Retherford (Penn State)
157: Jason Nolf (Penn State)
165: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State)
174: Bo Nickal (Penn State)
184: Gabe Dean (Cornell)
197: J'den Cox (Missouri)
285: Nick Gwizdowski (NC State)
Team: Penn State
Q: Gardner-Webb University is also in the SoCon. They beat Appalachian State and lost to Chattanooga with some starters out of their lineup. They have also beaten Duke this year and deserve recognition in the rankings.
-- Rich C.
Foley: When I read this I thought you might be mistaken, but you're not. This is a solid team! I don't know where you want them in the team rankings, or if there were individuals who were overlooked, but the win over Duke and UTC are excellent markers for the program and its growth.
Congrats on the success and I will be sure to keep an eye on their performance this weekend.
Q: What is your most anticipated match from the ACC tournament? Between conference tournaments and the Olympic qualifier here in North Texas this weekend, it doesn't get much better than this!
-- Brad B.
Virginia Tech heavyweight Ty Walz gets his hand raised after winning the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December(Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)I'm liking Kevin Jack vs. Joey Ward for best scrambles. I'm picking Thomas Gantt vs. Nick Brascetta for most physical. I'm liking Ethan Ramos in the mild upset over Zach Epperly. I'm choosing Nick Gwiazdowski vs. Ty Walz as most entertaining.
And I'm pretty excited to see who comes out of the Pan Am Qualifiers. Definitely hurts the Americans that no Cubans made it out at the World Championships. They are on-location and ready to scrap. Their men and women are both very dangerous in a small tournament and I wouldn't be surprised to see them qualify 6/7 in freestyle along with another pair in women's wrestling and three in Greco-Roman.
Also keep an eye out for the Venezuelan men, up-and-coming Canadians, and the trio of Ecuadorian middleweights who could each win the title at their weights.
Q: What are the chances that Ohio State and Penn State sweep the Big Tens with individual champions? Combined, they have a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in nine weight classes and the No. 3 seed at 133 pounds.
David D.
Foley: Ten percent?
I don't see Jordan Conaway or Johnni DiJulius making their way past Cory Clark (Go Iowa!) or Illinois' Zane Richards, who I think has an outside chance of winning the NCAA tournament.
Still, you make a valid observation that there has been a massive consolidation of power in the Big Ten over the last few years. Worth checking on again heading into next year's finals.
Q: Isaiah Martinez-Jason Nolf II this weekend. You are you taking? Why?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Jason Nolf is the favorite heading into the match and will be the favorite to the win the NCAA title after their rematch. Nolf is strict with his forward pressure and positioning. He's relentless on angles and following through with scrambles. There are no hiccups in his motion. He is constantly progressing with his positioning and once he slaps a pinning combination he simply doesn't let go.
However, their first match also implied that Martinez was out of shape or suffering from a deep weight cut. That might not be the case come finals. He could be ballooned up, rested and have a full tank of gas for this most epic of rematches.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Celebrations from Minnesota's state wrestling tournament. This is cool. (Maybe a little too much chest pounding?)
Ryan Shaver caught wrestlers' reactions after they won their state titles!
Posted by KARE 11 on Sunday, February 28, 2016
Q: If you're Fresno State's AD, what coaches are you looking at to lead the program?
-- Mike C.
Foley: The list would be pretty short. I'd aim for some of the top assistants in the country and would almost totally focus in on regional affiliations. The first names that popped in my head were the Tirapelle brothers, Alex and Adam, whose family runs deep in the area.
Adam has been coaching wrestling at the high school level in recent years. Alex is the head coach at Penn and seems to be well liked and enjoying some success early in his career. Would he want to make a move back west to start from scratch? That might be a bridge too far for a young coach.
Assistant coaching options include Jason Welch!
Q: Can you please review which weight classes the United States has qualified for the Olympic Games, and which ones have not?
-- Mike C.
You have to win your semifinals match at the qualifier and wrestle in the finals to ensure that you have qualified your nation for Rio. As you know, the wrestler who qualifies is not necessarily the wrestler that goes to Rio. The team will be chosen at the Olympic Team Trials April 9-10 in Iowa City.
Women's freestyle:
Qualified -- 75 kilos: Adeline Gray
48 kilos: Alyssa Lampe
53 kilos: Whitney Condor
58 kilos: Alli Ragan
63 kilos: Erin Clogdo
69 kilos: Tamyra Mensah
Men's freestyle:
Qualified -- 74 kilos: Jordan Burroughs
Qualified -- 97 kilos: Kyle Snyder
57 kilos: Anthony Ramos
65 kilos: Brent Metcalf
86 kilos: Jake Herbert
125 kilos: Tervel Dlagnev
Greco-Roman:
Qualified -- 75 kilos: Andy Bisek
Qualified -- 130 kilos: Robby Smith
59 kilos: Spencer Mango
66 kilos: RaVaughn Perkins
85 kilos: Jordan Holm
98 kilos: Joe Rau
Q: Why is it we don't see more Western European stars internationally? Zelimkhan Khadjiev has come to prominence, placing fifth at the World Championships last year, and taking second to Jordan Burroughs at the Yasar Dogu, but where are all the athletes from Spain, England, Germany? I know that Greco is somewhat more popular than freestyle there, but even that is scarce compared to the rest of Europe. Why is this?
-- Brian B.
Foley: Khadjiev is one of my favorite wrestlers to watch, but he's also got a wonderful backstory. Although you would assume that he is a Russian transplant purchased by the French federation, he's actually pretty French having moved to the country when he was 3 years old.
As for the freestyle talent in Western Europe there are two reasons. First, some of these countries only celebrate Greco-Roman, a style that was first developed in France in the 1800s. The second is that there is a dearth of freestyle-based traditional styles in the region and very few clubs that support those programs.
There is an effort to import talent and development at the international level is underway, but when looking at Europe as a whole it doesn't need to get much more difficult or concentrated with talent.
Q: Any comments about Easton (Pa.) Area High School's streak ending this year? Easton wrestling teams produced at least one district champion for 68 consecutive years. Are you aware of other lengthy streaks?
-- Charles W.
Foley: The Streak.
Impressive run by Easton, but like all good streaks they need to end to be fully appreciated. That is one hell of a long time to be putting out district champions in arguably the toughest wrestling hotbed in the nation.
In NYC? Wanna wrestle?
On March 12, BTS is hosting our first ever Step Into The Circle Fundraiser. It's an adult wrestling tournament. Basically instead of asking friend to sponsor you to run for a cause, you're asking your friends to wrestle for a great wrestling cause.
So far we've raised over 24K (all through small donations). We have college alumni teams, corporate teams, teams with old friends, etc. It's going to be a ton of fun and it's a pretty unique fundraiser. You can check it out at https://www.crowdrise.com/StepIntoTheCircle.
Email of the Week
By Rich W.
I am an NC State wrestling fan and enjoyed your column about NC State and Virginia Tech. I saw their dual this year and have some thoughts.
Both teams have been built with a "whole team, 10-man" approach. If you look at NC State's big wins this year -- Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Missouri -- it was wins by their unranked wrestlers at 133, 149 and 174 that sealed it. Against Virginia Tech, NC State lost because Virginia Tech's unranked wrestlers at 133 pounds and 149 prevailed.
Even when NC State didn't win, the unranked wrestlers contributed by not giving up bonus points. Against Oklahoma State, Missouri, Iowa, and even Old Dominion, NC State only won five matches but in every case they prevailed on bonus points. Giving up only two bonus points to Iowa was huge.
I think Skip's single best move to turn the season was convincing Tommy Gantt to redshirt last season in what would have been his last year at NC State. It turned what would have been a last year with a mediocre team into a last year with a special team. However, Skip also let one get away, Bryce Meredith. He was the biggest new contributor for most of last year until Kevin Jack emerged. We'll never know if Bryce could have been comfortable wrestling at 133 this year.
Your column focused on the East Coast phenomenon. But I see it more as a Southern thing. How many top-recruit wrestlers really don't want to spend four or five winters living in freezing cold? If this is the issue, maybe NC State has the edge over Virginia Tech!
P.S. I think the ACC Championships will come down to who wins two finals matchups between NC State and Virginia Tech, 184 pounds and heavyweight. Both are tossups.
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