InterMat Staff

157 lb EIWA champion Quincy Monday of Princeton(Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The 118th EIWA Conference Championships Recap 125lb Placewinners 1st - Vitali Arujau (CORN) 2nd - Patrick Glory (PU) 3rd - Ryan Miller (PENN) 4th - Joe Manchio (COL)** 5th - Beau Bayless (HARV) 6th - Sheldon Seymour (LEH) 7th - Brandon Seidman (BUCK) 8th - Reese Fry (Brwn) Bold Text NCAA Qualifiers ** At large selections The top 4 seeds finished as seeded. The only exception was second seed Vito putting a beatdown on top-seed Glory in the finals. With a 19-6 major decision, the match was not close from the start. Vito looks primed and ready to be in the national title hunt. He looked fantastic all weekend. He had relentless attacks, some turns on top, and sky-high confidence. Glory will be back next week. Depending on his seed, we may see a rematch with Vito at NCAA's. For third place, Miller won over Manchio by major decision. His only hiccup was a loss to Vito. Manchio earned a wild card after a nice season. The bracket buster here was Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh. Being a late addition, he was given the 17th (last) seed. His two losses were to Glory (8-2) and Manchio (3-2). Being the back-up at Lehigh, the depth at the lower weights is deep. Returning NCAA Qualifiers Mininno of Drexel and Allen of Navy combined for one win total. This turned out to be a deep weight, plus Seymour's unfortunate seed; the bracket saw a few surprises. 133lb Placewinners 1st - Michael Colaiocco (PENN) 2nd - Josh Koderhandt (NAVY) 3rd - Dom LaJoie (CORN)** 4th - Jack Maida (AU) 5th - Richard Treanor (ARMY) 6th - Nick Kayal (PU) 7th - Jaxon Maroney (DRXL) 8th - Nicky Cabanillas (Brwn) DNP - Malyke Hines (LEH)** This bracket was busted from the beginning when Hines came in as the third-seeded Hines was forced to injury default his opening match, then medical forfeit his next due to injury. He did earn a wild card selection due to his impressive body of work during the season. Without Hines, Colaiocco pretty much ran through this bracket for his first EIWA title. Navy's freshman, Koderhandt, had an awesome battle with LaJoie in the semifinal. He earned a pin in overtime. This was one of the better matches I remember, with tons of scrambling by both guys. It's a toss-up every time they go at it. LaJoie earned a wild card after placing 3rd. Jack Maida was the biggest surprise of this weight, in my eyes. Coming in as the 7th seed, he took out Phipps (5th), Maroney (8th), and Treanor (11th) in the wrestle backs to claim 4th place. The true freshman has a bright future under American assistant coach, Joey Dance. Other wrestlers outperforming their seeds were Treanor of Army (11th), Kayal of Princeton (10th), and Cabinillas of Brown (14th). One thing I'd like to note is the Brown lightweights at 125 and 133 both outwrestled their seeds by a significant amount. Much of this is due to newly appointed assistant coach, Jesse Delgado. There are a few bright spots at the bottom of that line-up, and it started to shine here. 141lb Placewinners 1st - Matt Kazimir (COL) 2nd - CJ Composto (PENN) 3rd - Wil Gil (F&M) 4th - Connor McGonagle (LEH) 5th - Darren Miller (BUCK) 6th - Ryan Anderson (BING) 7th - Danny Coles (PU) 8th - Justin Hoyle (HOF) The top two seeds held true at this weight class. Kazimir held onto a 6-4 decision over Composto of Penn. Kazimir took some losses this year and battled some injuries. He did enough to earn the first seed en route to EIWA gold. He was not super flashy, nor did he score a ton of points. The dark horse of the bracket went on a tear to earn third place. Wil Gil of F&M came in as the 7th seed and performed better than I have ever seen him wrestle. He took out the 4th and 5th seeds to claim a third-place finish. It's a shame we did not get to see Miller nor Anderson receive an at-large bid, as they have been ranked inside the top 20 coming into the conference tournament. Hofstra's Hoyle came in as the 14th seed and snuck onto the podium. He took out the 11th and 9th seed in the wrestle backs. 149 Placewinners 1st - Yianni Diakomihalis (CORN) 2nd - Anthony Artalona (PENN) 3rd - Max Brignola (LEH) 4th - Marshall Keller (PU) 5th - Danny Fongaro (COL) 6th - PJ Ogunsanya (ARMY)** 7th - Lukus Stricker (HARV) 8th - Nick Lombard (BING) Yianni did his thing, as expected. He had all bonus-point victories. Artalona was solid with runner-up finish. Brignola of Lehigh wrestled to his seed, placing third. The biggest overperformance was Marshall Keller of Princeton. He was the 16th seed, losing first round to Yianni. He stormed back beating the 9th, 6th, 7th, and 4th seeds to find himself in the 3rd place match. Talk about turning it on at the right time! The real bummer here was Ogunsanya's injury. He was wearing a heavily taped ankle on the mat and a walking boot off the mat. Thankfully, he earned a wild card due to his body of work during the regular season. Nichter of Drexel (6th seed) was entertaining to watch until he had to default out due to injury. He battled injuries all year and just came back a few weeks ago. Only being a freshman, expect him to make some noise next year. Besides Keller's run, this weight held its seeds well. 157lb Placewinners 1st - Quincy Monday (PU) 2nd - Andrew Cerniglia (NAVY) 3rd - Josh Humphreys (LEH) 4th - Markus Hartman (ARMY) 5th - Doug Zapf (PENN) 6th - Hunter Richard (CORN)** 7th - Nick Delp (BUCK) 8th - Trevor Tarsi (HARV) I think we all expected a Humpreys/Monday finals match-up. Cerniglia played the role of spoiler when he earned a defensive fall over Humphreys in the semifinals. Monday beat Zapf for the second time this year, again winning by a takedown. With 157 having six qualifiers, it shows the depth at this weight class. More impressively, two returning qualifiers from last year in Kropman of Drexel and Palumbo of Sacred Heart missed the podium and tournament this season. I'm glad Richard of Cornell earned an at-large bid. He belongs there, proving he can compete with the best. Hartman had close wins in the wrestle backs over Tarsi then Zapf. For 5th, Zapf had to defeat Richard for a second time over the weekend. He seems to have Richard's number, winning both matches by a takedown. Minus Humphrey's setback in the semifinals, he looks very capable of placing at NCAAs - along with Monday. 165lb Placewinners 1st - Philip Conigliaro (HARV) 2nd - Joshua Ogunsanya (COL) 3rd - Zach Hartman (BUCK) 4th - Julian Ramirez (CORN) 5th - Brevin Cassella (BING) 6th - Lucas Revano (PENN) 7th - Evan Barczak (DRXL) 8th - Val Park (NAVY) DNP - Brian Meyer (LEH)** Sounding like a broken record, this weight class was the deepest weight in the conference. As an example, returning two-time NCAA qualifier Ricky Stamm of Hofstra earned the 11th seed, and did not place. He had losses to Cassella and Revano. Cassella had a nice outing for his freshman campaign. He came in as the 8th seed, ultimately earning a 5th place finish. This dude can scrap. Val Park is in a tough situation, as he placed 8th and beat Meyer of Lehigh in the blood round. Meyer earned an at-large bid, leaving Park out of the NCAA tournament. Dalton Harkins of Army came into the weekend ranked inside the top 33, but lost to Revano in the round of 12. In the consolation semi's, we saw Barczak take on Revano for the third time. Revano has won all meetings between them in overtime. These guys put on a show every time. Back to the championship bracket, from the start, we saw incredible matches. Every single quarterfinal was competitive, and the semis were very close matches. Conigliaro knocked off returning All-American Hartman. Conigliaro is tough, tough, tough! Ogunsanya beat top-seed Ramirez of Cornell as well. He is super quick on his feet and caused issues for Ramirez. Most of these guys will be back next year as well. The weight will be deep for years to come. 174lb Placewinners 1st - Mickey O'Malley (DRXL) 2nd - Nick Incontrera (PENN) 3rd - Ben Pasiuk (ARMY) 4th - Jacob Nolan (BING) 5th - Jake Logan (LEH) 6th - Chris Foca (CORN)** 7th - Nick Fine (COL) 8th - Nate Dugan (PU) Overall, this group did not have any major bracket busters. The biggest overperformance was by Nolan of Binghamton. The 8th seed knocked off 4th seeded Fine of Columbia then had a MFF over Foca of Cornell to find himself in the 3rd place match. Pasiuk of Army came into the tournament as the 6th seed, ending his weekend as a national qualifier in 3rd. It was interesting to see a dominant O'Malley of Drexel end his run with four decisions. He is typically pinning opponents left and right. He wrestled Incontrera for the third time of the season this weekend in the finals. O'Malley beat the Penn rival by a 2-1 score in tiebreaker. Not the most exciting match, but when opponents know each other so well, this is bound to happen. Foca, who just returned from a concussion, looked to suffer another one in the semifinal bout. Hopefully, he can be at full strength at NCAAs. 184lb Placewinners 1st - Jonathan Loew (CORN) 2nd - Travis Stefanik (PU) 3rd - AJ Burkhart (LEH) 4th - Charles Small (HOF) 5th - Neil Antrassian (PENN) 6th - Bryan McLaughlin (DRXL) 7th - Brian Bonino (COL) 8th - Cory Day (BING) The top two somewhat separated themselves from the rest this weekend. It's no real surprise to see Loew of Cornell against Stefanik of Princeton in the final. Loew widened the gap with a 12-5 victory, which is much more comfortable of a win compared to the two-point victory last time they met. The third-place finisher (and last automatic qualifier) went to Lehigh's Burkhart. The 7th seed knocked off returning qualifier McLaughlin of Drexel, Antrassian of Penn (5th seed), and third seed Small of Hofstra. Many knew he was capable of this once he upset Loew in the dual back in early January. Personally, I feel both Small and Antrassian had arguments to get at-large selections, but the NCAA committee felt differently. There were some exciting matches on the backside, with many one-score matches in the blood round, continuing into the placing matches. After the top two, the field was very evenly matched. Expect this weight to reload next year with a few placers graduating. 197lb Placewinners 1st - Lou DePrez (BING) 2nd - Luke Stout (PU) 3rd - Jacob Koser (NAVY) 4th - Cole Urbas (PENN) 5th - Jacob Cardenas (CORN) 6th - JT Davis (LEH) 7th - JT Brown (ARMY)** 8th - Sam Wustefeld (COL) DePrez remains King of the EIWA, this time at a different weight class. DePrez's third title was just as impressive as his first two. His closest bout was a one-point match over Koser of Navy. The most exciting match on the winner's side was probably the semi between Stout and Cardenas. Stout earned a takedown in OT to avenge his loss from a month earlier. DePrez won the finals match-up by a 10-4 score. Navy's Koser had a nice tournament, finishing in third place. Urbas of Penn (8th seed) did exactly as I called in my preview. He upset the 5th and 2nd seeds in the wrestle backs using his effective top game. This is his first trip to NCAA's, with a few more in his future. JT Davis of Lehigh had himself a nice tournament, as well. Columbia's 12th seed, Wustefeld, snuck onto the podium with an 8th place finish. DePrez and Brown are the only place winners graduating. This is another weight class that we should see improvement on next year. 285lb Placewinners 1st - Jordan Wood (LEH) 2nd - Lewis Fernandes (CORN) 3rd - Joe Doyle (BING) 4th - Ben Goldin (PENN) 5th - Matt Cover (PU) 6th - Zachary Knighton-Ward (HOF) 7th - Cenzo Pelusi (F&M) 8th - Daniel Conley (COL) Jordan Wood of Lehigh will go down in the history books as the first (and possibly only) five-time EIWA Champion. He was the favorite all year. But his matches were very close. With a 2-0 win over Penn's Goldin in the semi, and a 2-0 win over Fernandes in the final, Wood wasn't the point-scoring machine we typically see. But, when you are the favorite to win, like he is 99% of the time, he will wrestle some close matches. Fernandes had two pins and then a 5-0 win, before his defeat to Wood in the finals. Watching Doyle of Binghamton wrestle is one of the most entertaining things in the heavyweight division. He wrestles like a funky 125lb guy, using all sorts of rolls from Granby's, to funks, to Petersons. He could be a potential dark horse in the NCAA bracket. I was glad to see the EIWA get two at-large bids here in Knighton-Ward of Hofstra and Cover of Princeton. Both guys are athletic, and fun to watch as well. Goldin is just solid all around. I like him too. The EIWA will be well represented in Detroit next week. Team Race 1st - Cornell (153 points & 3 champs, 9 NCAA Qualifiers) 2nd - Penn (143 points & 1 champ, 9 NCAA Qualifiers) 3rd - Princeton (120.5 & 1 champ, 6 NCAA Qualifiers) 4th - Lehigh (111 points & 1 champ, 7 NCAA Qualifiers) 5th - Columbia (84.5 points & 1 champ, 3 NCAA Qualifiers) This was a tight team race. Many may not have expected Penn to be right on the tails of the Cornell Big Red. Many would assume Lehigh would duke it out with Cornell, but major injuries at 125 and 133 held them back slightly. Could this be a permanent situation moving forward? Will this continue to be a four-team battle for the top spot, with Penn now in the mix? Being at the tournament this weekend, Penn had a ton of support in the stands. It almost seemed like they had home-mat advantage in some bouts. Shoutout to Columbia. Fifth place for that team is an incredible step for coach Tanelli and crew. What an improvement they have made over the past few years. Even the middle tier had impressive showings. Binghamton was 6th place, followed by Navy, Army, Harvard, and Drexel rounding out the top 10. We've seen big-time improvements, from the Ivy League schools. Now that the other teams are stepping up their game, this conference will only start to get more competitive year after year. Miscellaneous Awards Outstanding Wrestler Award - Vitali Arujau of Cornell Most Cumulative EIWA Career Team Points - Jordan Wood of Lehigh (109 points) Most Falls in Least Amount of Time - Lewis Fernandes of Cornell Coach of the Year - Roger Reina of Penn Sportsmanship Award - Columbia University

North Central 285 lber Robby Bates (Photo/Matthew Eaker; North Central athletics) Day one of the 2022 NCAA Division III wrestling tournament wrapped up with Wartburg leading the team race. The Knights went 14-1 on the day and picked up 7 All-American awards in the process. Eric Keller's #1 ranked squad punched six of their seven wrestlers into the semifinal round. Led by seniors Kyle Briggs (184) and Brady Kyner (133), the Wartburg Knights have 58 team points. Augsburg follows in 2nd with 45 points. They have 3 All Americans, all sitting in the semifinal round. Wabash ends the day in third with 40.5 points. North Central has 3 in the semis and 4 All Americans to stand fourth. Stevens Tech brought 3 wrestlers and got 3 place finishers to round out the top 5 with 29.5 points. 1 Wartburg College 58.0 2 Augsburg University 45.0 3 Wabash College 40.5 4 North Central College 32.5 5 Stevens Institute Of Technology 29.5 6 Rochester Institute Of Technology 26.5 7 Coe College 24.0 8 Millikin University 22.5 9 University Of Chicago 20.0 10 Baldwin Wallace University 18.0 10 U.S. Coast Guard Academy 18.0 10 University Of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 18.0 9 of the 10 1st seeds survived, but at Heavyweight #1 seed Max Bishop of Wabash was upended by North Central's Robby Bates. Bates then knocked off unseeded Nico Ramirez of Southern Virginia University to earn All American status. Bates is one of three semifinalists for Joe Norton's up-and-coming program. Sophomore Will Esmoil of Coe College shocked the country with back-to-back upsets at 165 pounds. He defeated previously unbeaten and #2 ranked Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins University in the opening round, before pinning seventh seed Chase Schmidt of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinal. Esmoil will face Wabash's Kyle Hatch in the semifinal round tomorrow morning. Averett's Brandon Woody earned his way to the finals with wins over Augsburg's Sam Stuhl and Elmhurst's second-seeded Jim McAuliffe in a thrilling bout. Woody will take on Wartburg's Zayren Terukina for a spot in the finals tomorrow morning. Semifinal matchups 125- Jacob Decatur (Baldwin Wallace) vs Brady Kyner (Wartburg) 125 - Shandon Akeo (Central College) vs Carlos Champagne (Wabash) 133 - Robbie Precin (North Central) vs Matt Berlin (UW Stevens Point) 133 - Andrew Perelka (John Carroll) Vs Dalton Rohrbaugh (York) 141 - Jordin James ( Mount Union) vs Kyle Slendorn (Stevens Tech) 141 - Zayren Terukina (Wartburg) vs Brandon Woody (Averett) 149 - Brett Kaliner (Stevens Tech) vs Ryan Fleck (Chicago) 149 - Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace) vs Kristian Rumph (Wartburg) 157 - Kaidon Winters (RIT) vs Tyler Shilson (Augsburg) 157 - Nathan Lackman (Rhode Island) vs David Hollingsworth (Wartburg) 165 - Braden Birt (Millikin) vs Matt Lackman (Alvernia) 165 - Kyle Hatch (Wabash) vs Will Esmoil (Coe College) 174 - Cornell Beachem (Mount St Joseph) vs Solomon Nielsen (Augsburg) 174 - Michael Ross (JWU) vs Zane Mulder (Wartburg) 184 - Shane Liegel (Loras) vs Jarrit Shinhoster (UW Whitewater) 184 - Paul Detwiler (US Coast Guard) vs Kyle Briggs (Wartburg) 197 - Cody Baldridge ( North Central ) vs Beau Yineman (UW Oshkosh) 197 - Coy Spooner (US Coast Guard) vs Jack Heldt (Wabash) 285 - Robby Bates (North Central) vs Jordan Lemcke (UW Oshkosh) 285 - Tyler Kim (Augsburg) vs Donovan King (Olivet) Wrestling resumes tomorrow at 10:00 am CST with the finals scheduled for 7:00 pm CST.

The top three seeds at 133 lbs Roman Bravo-Young (center), Daton Fix (left), and Michael McGee (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The 2022 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Detroit, Michigan, with hopes of a national title on their minds. In addition, fan seating will be at 100% capacity for the first time since Pittsburgh in 2019. Now it's in an area that hasn't hosted nationals since 2007 and even that tournament was not held downtown; it was way out in Auburn Hills. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. Here's the 125 lb preview We'll move on to the 133 lbers as we release two of our weight class previews for the next five days: The Top Seed: Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) After the dust settled in Lincoln, the Penn State wrestler with the longest active winning streak is their 133 lber, Roman Bravo-Young, who has won 31 straight bouts. His most recent defeat took place in the 2020 Big Ten finals against Sebastian Rivera, then of Northwestern. Bravo-Young doesn't get the attention that some of his PSU teammates have received; however, he's perhaps the heart and soul of this squad. The unflappable national champion is just as capable of cooly stymying a winning takedown attempt from DeSanto in the waning seconds of the Big Ten finals, as he is displaying highlight-reel offense. However the match plays out, RBY can find a way to win. A clutch takedown over Daton Fix in sudden victory gave RBY the 2021 national championship, which led into a top-ranking this year. He's never relinquished that position and become more dominant in 2021-22. Bravo-Young's bonus-point percentage has crept up to almost 59%, which represents the highest mark of his career. While generally not considered a "pinner," RBY has three this year, the highest total during his tenure in State College. Speaking of his time with the Nittany Lions, RBY's days in a Penn State singlet could be numbered. At times, he's hinted that he would not use another year of eligibility he is entitled to because of the "Covid Year." So, don't take for granted what could be the last collegiate tournament for this Penn State star. The Contenders: #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State); #3 Michael McGee (Arizona State); #4 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech); #5 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) The Conference Champs: ACC: #4 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) Big 12: #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) Big Ten: #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) EIWA: #9 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) MAC: #30 Richie Koehler (Rider) Pac-12: #3 Michael McGee (Arizona State) SoCon: #21 Codi Russell (Appalachian State) Top First-Round Matches #16 Josh Koderhandt (Navy) vs. #17 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) #9 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) vs. #24 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) #14 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) vs. #19 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) #15 Kai Orine (NC State) vs. #18 Joe Heilmann (North Carolina) This bracket looks a lot like the 2021 version and for good reason. The top-seven finisher at the weight are returning and still at 133 lbs. In 2021, this was one of the rare brackets that didn't explode. The eight All-Americans came from the top-ten seeds and the top four advanced to the semifinals. I'd expect chalk to generally prevail again here. Most fans will probably pick an RBY/Fix NCAA finals rematch and with good reason. Bravo-Young hasn't lost since 2020 and Fix's only collegiate loss in that time period came to the '21 finals to the Nittany Lion star. One way the rematch could get interrupted is by #5 Austin DeSanto. The high-energy Hawkeye has been extremely close to both Fix and RBY in the recent meetings. He doesn't have problems getting to either's legs, but the issue has been securing a takedown. Before the brackets were released on Wednesday evening, we all probably had a Fix/DeSanto semifinal mentally penciled into our brackets. That didn't happen as DeSanto was saddled with the fifth seed, rather than the three. At the end of the day, it just means we could see RBY/DeSanto "Ocho" rather than a meeting with Fix. Either could be entertaining. Fix is undoubtedly looking for another crack at Bravo-Young after his sudden victory in the 2021 finals. He came into the tournament last year as the top-seed and crushed the field, before edging DeSanto. We'll probably see a different version of Fix mentally, after the high of making the Senior World Team and coming away from the World Championships in Oslo with a silver medal. Against most opponents, Fix has opened his offense more; however, it's likely that we'll see at a tactical, chess match, were he and RBY to meet again. Maybe the most significant test for Fix pre-finals, would come in the quarters in the form of Lucas Byrd. In each of the last two Big Ten semifinals, Byrd has lost one-point bouts to DeSanto. Byrd is one of the few wrestlers who doesn't wilt under the constant pressure of DeSanto. It should make for an intriguing match with Fix. Some familiar faces will help round out the list of contenders and have a strong case to make the podium. Surprise third seed, Michael McGee, gets his billing perhaps due to an 8-7 win over Korbin Myers at the Collegiate Duals. It ended up being the only blimp on the radar for the Hokie. Both Myers and McGee are returning top-six finishers from a year ago. The tenth seed is returning All-American Chris Cannon. Provided he can get by #23 Tony Madrigal, in round one, Cannon will see Byrd for the fourth time in two years. Byrd has taken the first three and hasn't surrendered a takedown in any of their matches. New blood into the ranks of podium threats include Dylan Ragusin and Michael Colaiocco. Ragusin was a national qualifier last year at 125 lbs. He pulled out a 3-1 victory in extra time against Byrd in the Big Ten third-place bout, which put him ahead of the Illini AA in the seeding process. Colaiocco was 11th seed at the 2020 tournament, but obviously didn't get to wrestle. Since the Ivy League wiped blocked their members from competing last year, Colaiocco will be making his national debut. He hasn't lost since the calendar turned to 2022 and is riding an 11-match winning streak. Veteran mainstays #11 Devan Turner, #12 Phillippi, and #13 Brock Hudkins (Indiana), all could push for the podium. Phillippi and Hudkins have both advanced to the NCAA Round of 12 in prior trips, while Turner won two bouts last year, his third trip to the Big Dance. Quadrant to Watch: Like 125, we'll stick with the second quadrant, the one that includes the four and five seeds. We've already mentioned that it was shocking to see Austin DeSanto as the fifth seed. That placement in the bracket leads to some potential interesting matchups. In 2021, DeSanto and Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) met in the 4 vs. 5 bout. This time it could be in the round of 16. Normally, Phillippi is able to slow down his opposition, but not in that meeting with DeSanto. The Hawkeye showed his normal, frenetic pace and worked to a 13-5 major decision. Should DeSanto replicate his 2021 performance or merely win, he'd likely see the fourth seed, Korbin Myers. DeSanto and Myers clashed in the NCAA third-place bout last season and DeSanto prevailed 10-6. Getting out of this quarterfinal probably books another bout between DeSanto and Bravo-Young. Darkhorse All-American Contender: #14 Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) This weight class had been odd all year in that there are no obvious wrestlers from 13-20 that look like they will go on a run towards the podium. One that started unranked, and slowly made his way into the top 15 was Kyle Biscoglia. This is Biscoglia's first crack at the postseason for UNI. After starting the year 8-6 (with one loss not officially counting, as it came to a teammate), Biscoglia has been a model of consistency. His only two losses from late-December until today have come to Daton Fix. One in a dual and the other in the Big 12 finals. During that time, he's picked up wins over six national qualifiers and seen his stock rise significantly. While Biscoglia has a difficult match with #3 Michael McGee looming in the second round, his path to the medal stand is not too brutal. Barring significant upsets, he'd have to go through #11 Devan Turner (Oregon State) and the probable winner of #8 Michael Colaiocco/#9 Rayvon Foley. Certainly no walk in the park, but doable. Extreme (+20 seed) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #23 Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) Before the Big Ten Championships, who was responsible for the only loss on Lucas Byrd's record? How about the 133 lbs champion at the Michigan State Open? The answer to both questions is Tony Madrigal and it didn't stop with Byrd. The Sooner senior also posted wins over Rayvon Foley and Dylan Ragusin at that same tournament. Three wins like that were better than many resumes for an entire season. It was enough to immediately catapult Madrigal into the top ten. Since he left East Lansing, Madrigal's results have been ok, at best. He's 7-10 if you exclude those wins. But, what they show is Madrigal is capable of beating almost anyone at the 133 lb weight class. Perhaps he gets hot and reels of three of those caliber victories? Right off the bat, the 2022 Big 12 sixth-place finisher, is paired with returning All-American Chris Cannon (Northwestern). A win would put him through to Byrd, again. Last year, we saw Sooner Jake Woodley make an unlikely run to the semis, could Madrigal be the one this time around, who picks up some big wins? The Team Race: The fifth seed for DeSanto put him in line for a semifinal collision with top-seeded RBY. In their last two meetings, DeSanto has been ever-so-close to the returning champion, but hasn't been able to convert a takedown. Could he do it here, when stakes are the highest? If he does, that would surely provide a huge boost to his team's hopes, while striking a crushing blow to Penn State. For Michigan, Dylan Ragusin could see #3 Michael McGee in the quarterfinals in a rematch of their neutral-site dual in Texas. If Ragusin is able to make the necessary adjustments to reverse a 10-0 major decision, he'd secure a place in the top-six, something that could be difficult otherwise. Projected Quarterfinals #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. #8 Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) #4 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) vs. #5 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #3 Michael McGee (Arizona State) vs. #6 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) Projected Semifinals #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. #5 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) #2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. #3 Michael McGee (Arizona State) Projected All-Americans 1st) Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 2nd) Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 3rd) Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 4th) Michael McGee (Arizona State) 5th) Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) 6th) Michael Colaiocco (Penn) 7th) Lucas Byrd (Illinois) 8th) Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) Round of 12 Finishers: #10 Chris Cannon (Northwestern); #8 Rayvon Foley (Michigan State); #12 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh); #6 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) Consolation Round of 16: #17 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley); #11 Devan Turner (Oregon State); #19 Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga); #16 Josh Koderhandt (Navy)

The top three seeds at 125 lbs Nick Suriano (center), Vito Arujau (right), and Patrick Glory (Photos/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The 2022 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Detroit, Michigan, with hopes of a national title on their mind. In addition, fan seating will be at 100% capacity for the first time since Pittsburgh in 2019. Now it's in an area that hasn't hosted nationals since 2007 and even that tournament was not held downtown; it was way out in Auburn Hills. Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more. We'll start with the 125 lbers and release two of our weight class previews for the next five days: The Top Seed: Nick Suriano (Michigan) The 2019 NCAA Champion (at 133 lbs), Nick Suriano, looked like he was ready to win a second title with his showing in Lincoln at the Big Ten Championships. Suriano's “closest” match of the tournament was in the finals when he majored #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), 12-4. To get to the finals, Suriano pinned #9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) with ease. Suriano sports an 11-0 record and seems to be hitting his stride at the right time. Earlier in the season, he barely slipped by #16 Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State), 2-1. That match looks more like an anomaly now, as it is the only one of his 11 contests where he's failed to notch bonus points. Since Suriano joined the Michigan team in January, we generally saw him against Big Ten competition only. No meetings with the EIWA crop of contenders. In his limited action, Suriano has beaten three of the eight NCAA All-American from 2021. Suriano has already been an integral part of history with Rutgers, being their first national champion, so could he be a key cog in Michigan's first NCAA championship team? The Contenders: #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell), #3 Patrick Glory (Princeton), #4 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) The Conference Champs: ACC: #14 Jakob Camacho (NC State) Big 12: #5 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) Big Ten: #1 Nick Suriano (Michigan) EIWA: #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) MAC: #17 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) Pac-12: #4 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) SoCon: #20 Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) Top First-Round Matches: #16 Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State) vs. #17 Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) #9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) vs. #24 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) #12 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) vs. #21 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) #11 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) vs. #22 Ryan Miller (Penn) #7 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) vs. #26 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) #15 Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) vs. #18 Noah Surtin (Missouri) Think about all the ways this weight class has changed since October. At that time, Spencer Lee (Iowa) was assumed to be ready to claim his fourth NCAA title, Nick Suriano's status was still up-in-the-air and there were just some whispers that Drew Hildebrandt could change his mind and use his final year of eligibility. Since then, Lee decided to address his previous knee injuries, Suriano gave Michigan a strong title favorite at the weight, and Hildebrandt at least provided Penn State with stability at 125 lbs for the second half of the year. This weight class was decimated by the Ivy League restrictions during the 2020-21 season. Legitimate title contenders, Arujau and Glory, were sidelined, as were Ryan Miller and Joe Manchio (Columbia), who also qualified this year. Without Suriano, and the Ivy twosome, Brandon Courtney emerged as one of the key players at this weight. He did not lose a bout until he met Lee in the NCAA finals. Arujau and Glory returned and have ended up being every bit the title contenders we imagined. Glory struck first and won an 11-9 shootout during the dual season. Unphased, Arujau returned the favor with a stunningly dominant 19-6, near tech-fall, of Glory during the EIWA finals. It would take a significant upset to prevent a third meeting between the two. I've described this weight class as having three distinct tiers. The first includes Suriano/Arujau/Glory. It's hard to imagine anyone else cracking the top-three and any of the trio finishing lower than third. Courtney is on a level of his own. He lost a one-sided major decision to Glory, but generally hasn't been pushed very often. It seems as if Courtney is a good bet to AA. Now from seeds five through 24, it really wouldn't be “that” big of a shocker if anyone landed on the podium. For instance, #21 Taylor LaMont and #24 Sam Latona finished in the top-six last year. Both have taken more losses than they're accustomed to; however, they aren't the caliber of most wrestlers that carry similar seeds. Like most weights, the depth of the Big Ten and Big 12 will be on display. #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), #8 Patrick McKee (Minnesota), #9 Schroder, #10 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), #12 Heinselman, and #13 Ayala are all top-15 wrestlers from the Big Ten. During the regular season, they all generally exchanged wins with each other, so there's no rhyme or reason to who may get on the podium. Just matchup, by matchup. The Big 12 has #5 Cardinale, #7 Mastrogiovanni, and #15 Teske as top 15 seeds. Cardinale has separated himself from this group, beating Mastrogiovanni by seven in the Big 12 semis and Teske by five in the finals. Even so, his lone hiccup this year came against Terukina. Quadrant to Watch: How about the second, the one that includes the #4 and #5 seeds. Courtney is smooth and looks like a decent bet to emerge; however, Cardinale is much improved from his seventh-place finish a year ago. Also in the mix is the true freshman, Ayala. If he's near top-form, he could be a headache for Courtney in round two. This group also includes a second AA in LaMont, who must get by Heinselman before anything further. Heinselman has a win over Ayala and could be ready for an All-American breakthrough. Darkhorse All-American Contender: #13 Drake Ayala (Iowa) Spencer Lee's injury opened the door for blue-chip true freshman Drake Ayala. While there's no way to properly replace a figure like Lee, many Iowa fans were still confident that the homegrown Ayala could find a spot on the podium this year. Drake's Carver Hawkeye debut saw him fall to Patrick McKee; however, he defeated returning Big Ten champion Devin Schroder two days later. He followed that win with one over Michael DeAugustino. An injury kept Ayala out of the lineup for most of the last month of the regular season. He returned for Big Ten's and notched wins over Jacob Moran (Indiana) and Tristan Lujan (Michigan State), before defaulting out of the tournament after securing a bid to nationals, with a top-eight finish. Ayala will still be less than 100%, but the question is, how healthy is he? I'm guessing he's able to push through it and has a strong performance. Extreme (+20 seed) Darkhorse All-American Contender: #26 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) Last year, Kysen Terukina was the very last seed at 125 lbs. He proceeded to go 0-2, as one may expect from that position. What wasn't expected was that Terukina would elevate himself to the upper echelon of Big 12 contenders. Despite his seed and the need for an at-large in a Big 12 weight class that automatically qualified six, Terukina is an All-American threat. Terukina started the year by winning 17 of his first 18 matches and logging victories over the fifth and seventh seeds here. With a resume that includes Cardinale and Mastrogiovanni, Terukina is capable of beating almost anyone here. The Team Race: Provided Hildebrandt gets by a game Anthony Noto, he'll likely face Suriano. The road back to the podium is not kind on the backside. The path to the top-eight would probably consist of the loser of Teske/Surtin, the loser of #8 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) and Schroder, along with #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) in the bloodround. That sounds like a recipe for not placing! Projected Quarterfinals #1 Nick Suriano (Michigan) vs. #9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) #5 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) vs. #13 Drake Ayala (Iowa) #3 Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. #6 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) #10 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) vs. #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Projected Semifinals #1 Nick Suriano (Michigan) vs. #5 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) #3 Patrick Glory (Princeton) vs. #2 Vito Arujau (Cornell) Projected All-Americans 1st) Nick Suriano (Michigan) 2nd) Vito Arujau (Cornell) 3rd) Patrick Glory (Princeton) 4th) Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 5th) Devin Schroder (Purdue) 6th) Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) 7th) Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 8th) Drake Ayala (Iowa) Round of 12 Finishers: #24 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech), #14 Jakob Camacho (NC State), #10 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), #8 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) Consolation Round of 16: #15 Brody Teske (Northern Iowa), #22 Ryan Miller (Penn), #12 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State), #16 Drew Hildebrandt (Penn State)

Phil Davis (top) at the 2008 NCAA Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com The three biggest MMA promotions in the US are back in action for a stacked weekend of the sport. As always, each event is loaded with former wrestlers competing in the hybrid sports. This weekend will see fighters who spent their college days at Missouri, Penn State, Iowa and other schools across the country. Eagle FC 46 Kevin Lee vs. Diego Sanchez Lee joined the club wrestling team at Grand Valley State despite only wrestling two years in high school. In one of his two years wrestling in college, he qualified for the NCWA tournament but failed to reach the All-American podium. Lee signed with the UFC in 2014 after only two years fighting MMA. He fought for the interim lightweight title against Tony Ferguson, but lost via third-round submission. This will be his first fight outside the UFC since 2013. Sanchez is a true veteran of the sport who won the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2005. He is now 40 years old and has a 30-13 professional record. Archie Colgan vs. Dylan Mantello Colgan was a two-time NCAA qualifier for Wyoming. As a junior in 2017, he made the bloodround with victories over Jake Danishek (Indiana), Victor Lopez (Bucknell) and Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) at the NCAA tournament. Colgan made his professional MMA debut this past March and has won all three of his fights to date. Mantello holds a 4-1 record and this will be his first fight since losing for the first time as a professional. In his last bout, he dropped a decision against Josh Ramirez at Ring of Combat 74. Tyler Ray vs. Thomas Webb Ray was a Division III wrestler at Mount St. Joseph. He has been fighting professionally since 2017. In his last fight, he scored an impressive victory over veteran John Howard. That win improved his record to 9-2. Webb will bring a 16-7 record into the cage on Friday. Ryder Newman vs. Manny Walo Newman spent time in college at West Virginia, the Olympic Training Center and Wyoming. He recently competed on the UFC's reality show, but lost his only fight on the show to eventual finalist Tresean Gore. Newman bounded back this past October with a first-round stoppage over Cole Shafer. Walo currently has a 14-4-1 record and has been fighting as a pro since 2011. The entire Eagle FC 48 card will air live via free stream on GoFLX. The event is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm ET. PFL Challenger Series 4 Edwin Cooper Jr. vs. Troy Lamson Cooper was an NJCAA champion and Division II runner-up before ever joining the Iowa wrestling program. Once with the Hawkeyes, he was a national qualifier as a senior in 2016 and finished with an 18-11 record. Cooper made his professional MMA debut in 2018 and currently has a 5-1 record. This will be an all-Big Ten match as Cooper's opponent was also on the squad at Michigan State. Lamson's best season with the Spartans came in 2014 when he went 15-12 with five falls. He made his professional MMA debut later that same year and has gone 13-4 to date. Scottie Stockman vs. Brahyan Zurcher Stockman was a six-year member of the Southern Oregon wrestling team. While there, he was teammates with Austin Vanderford and Taylor Johnson, who have also transitioned to MMA. While wrestling for the NAIA school, Stockman took a variety of amateur and toughman fights. He currently has a 3-1 professional record after turning professional last year. Zurcher turned professional last April and has won both of his fights. The fourth PFL Challenger Series event takes place Friday night at 9:00pm ET and airs live on Fubo TV. UFC Vegas 50 Terrance McKinney vs. Drew Dober McKinney gets a quick turnaround after fighting back on Feb. 26. The two-time Washington state champion split his college career between North Idaho and Chadron State. In 2016, he finished second at the RMAC conference tournament. McKinney made his UFC debut last June and has won both of his fights in the Octagon in under three minutes. Dober has been fighting professionally since 2009 and has a 23-11 record, but he enters this fight after back-to-back losses. Damon Jackson vs. Kamuela Kirk Jackson became an NAIA All-American in 2012 after finishing fifth for Missouri Valley College. He made his professional MMA debut later that year and now has a 19-4-1 record. He last fought in October, where he won over Charles Rosa by unanimous decision. Kirk will bring an 11-4 record into the cage after defeating Makwan Amirkhani in his UFC debut last June. Cody Brundage vs. Dalcha Lungiambula Brundage was a two-time NCAA Division II qualifier for Newberry College. He finished his career in 2017 with 96 wins, which ranked seventh in program history. Brundage is 6-2 as a professional. He made his UFC debut last September and dropped a decision against fellow wrestler Nick Maximov. Brundage faces off against another seasoned grappler here, as Lungiambula was a member of the Congolese judo team before switching to MMA in 2014. He has an 11-3 record. UFC Vegas 50 takes place Saturday night in Las Vegas. McKinney will be part of the main card, which kicks off at 7:00pm ET. Jackson and Brundage are part of the preliminary card set to start at 4:00pm ET. Both editions will air live on ESPN+. Bellator 276 Phil Davis vs. Julius Anglickas Davis was an NCAA champion, two-time finalist and four-time All-American for Penn State. He finished his eligibility in 2008 and made his professional MMA debut later that year. Davis won the Bellator light heavyweight title in 2016, but lost it in his first defense against former Arizona State wrestler Ryan Bader. In his last fight, he scored a decision victory over Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero. Anglickas has a 10-2 record and challenged Vadim Nemkov for the Bellator title in his last fight but fell via fourth-round submission. Johnny Eblen vs. John Salter Eblen spent multiple years in the starting lineup for Missouri. As a senior in 2015, he qualified for the NCAA tournament and picked up wins over Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) and Andy McCulley (Wyoming) before being eliminated. Eblen turned to MMA in 2017 and has started his career with 10-straight victories. Salter won an NAIA title for Lindenwood University in 2007. He made the transition to MMA in 2009 and quickly made his way through the ranks. Salter earned a shot at Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi after three-straight wins in the promotion. However, in his title fight, he was stopped in the third round. This will be Salter's first fight since losing to Mousasi last August. Alex Polizzi vs. Jose Augusto Azevedo Polizzi was a three-time NCAA qualifier for Northwestern. As a senior in 2015, he went 26-12. Polizzi made his professional MMA debut in 2018 and won his first seven fights before dropping a decision against Anglickas. Since that defeat, he has bounced back with a pair of victories. Azevedo is currently 7-3 and coming off a second-round knockout at the hands of former UFC title challenger Anthony Johnson. Romero Cotton vs. Freddy Sandoval Cotton was a three-time NCAA Division II champion for Nebraska-Kearney, while also competing on the football team. He made his MMA debut in Bellator in 2017 and has won all five of his fights inside the promotion. Sandoval has a 5-6-1 record and has not fought MMA since 2009. He had a boxing match last October but lost via third-round knockout. Diana Avsaragova vs. Kyra Batara Avsaragova reportedly finished third at the 2015 Russian Cadet nationals. She has been fighting since 2017 and has an undefeated 4-0 record. She joined Bellator last year and won a pair of fights over Gabriella Gulfin and Tara Graff. Batara has won four fights in a row after dropping a decision against Asian Championships gold medalist Kanako Murata in 2016. Her record now stands at 8-4. Cody Law vs. James Adcock Law started his wrestling career at Penn State before transferring to Pitt-Johnstown. At the Division II school, he became a two-time All-American and won the NCAA title at 157 pounds in 2018. Law signed with Bellator in 2020, and he has won his first five fights, all with the company. Adcock lost three of his first five fights, but he has since recovered and will bring a 7-4 record into the cage. Bellator 276 goes down Saturday night in St. Louis. The preliminary card, which features Polizzi, Cotton, Avsaragova and Law, airs live on YouTube at 6:00pm ET. Eblen, Salter and Davis are part of the main card, which will begin at 9:00pm ET on Showtime.

Wyoming All-American Stephen Buchanan (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Well, here we are, stuck dead-center in the middle of the two-week break between conference tournaments and the National Tournament and it leaves plenty of time for debate amongst fans. Just remember that while you're batin' to keep it to get it friendly and light. Or don't, I couldn't care less. Threaten to punch a dude's lights out in Detroit because he likes Isaac Trumble's path and you're a Stephen Buchanan fan. Much will be said in this next week by many, including myself, but it's all just noise until that first whistle. I started this endeavor right before the season and truly wasn't sure if I'd last through November and I just want to thank you all for keeping me on my toes and interested by not giving up on me and consistently asking great questions. Speaking of questions...let's get to some! With Chad Red receiving an at-large bid, will we see him become a 5x AA? @chunkofWEAVE The most impressive thing about Chad's three tournaments is that he did it by never making it past the round of 16. The Backside Slayer has gone a whopping 12-5 in consolation brackets, including a victory via pin over a two-time champ in 2018. No stranger to doing things the hard way, the Husker senior may have to take that familiar road again if he can't get past a hungry, but ailing, Sebastian Rivera in round two. Either way, I have no doubt that the man they call C.J. will make his presence felt again next weekend. Matt in Upper Saddle River g'head Matt First-time, long-time, should catholic schools be banned from NJ states? I'll hang up and listen… @mattg197 I get asked this a lot, and thanks for the call, Matt, and the answer is no. Ok? This idea that private schools shouldn't compete at individual states is asinine. Ok? New Jersey already separates the privates from publics in team states, so no problem there. Regardless of school, the individual tournament is still a collection of the best wrestlers in the state and if most champs come from private schools, then that's the way it is. The private school kids still come from Jersey and sometimes a few other states, but they don't come from Krypton. Beat 'em on the mat; the tournament gives you that opportunity. What are your thoughts on stall calls from the neutral position? Are they more controversial now? Not returning to the center is never called stalling. When someone goes out of bounds, you never know if the call will be continuing action or stalling. It makes the ref's job harder. @WisconsinWrest1 Push. Out. Point. That should straighten things out. How does one know the difference between a Real Bracket and a Forged Bracket? @MichWrestlinRef The forged brackets are seeded correctly. Out of the guys that did not get an at large bid, who are some of the biggest snubs? @yaboybready Alex Madrigal and Charles Small, to name a few. It's an unforgiving sport and the slightest misstep or injury can bite you in a big way. Sucks to see and we wish everyone could get a spot. Can you help get folks to sign my petition to put the WWE 24/7 Title on Gable Steveson before the NCAA tournament? Bob Oboberson Sure, Bob. That's quite a name you got there. Sign Bob's petition here, which will surely be the first online petition to actually work. Who does Kaleb Young have compromising photos of on the seeding committee? Bea Arthur Enjoy the quiet weekend, all you Jagoffs and Jaggettes! One week from now, we'll be watching the greatest round in all of sports. NCAA quarterfinals, baby! Yours truly has taken the day off work and you should do the same.

Minnesota state champion Gavin Nelson (photo/Mary Christen; TheGuillotine.com) This weekend the high school state tournament scene started to wind down, but still had some of the traditional powers like Minnesota and New Jersey held their much-anticipated season-ending tournaments. As these tournaments conclude, it begs the question, "how did my favorite team's recruits fare?" In some smaller states, it's almost a given that your college-bound studs are collecting another state title, while in the power states, with the deepest talent pools, such achievements are not guaranteed. Either way, we've combed through results from all of the state tournaments that have taken place thus far to find out how everyone's recruits have finished. We will update this article each week as more results become official. If you do not see a recruit that should be added, please fill out our commitment form Air Force Evan Binder (Whitfield) - Missouri Class 3 State Champion (132) Drake Buchanan (Center Grove) - Indiana State Champion (182) Peyton Hahn (Boonville) - Missouri Class 2 State Champion (285) Ryker Johnecheck (Williamston) - Michigan D3 State Champion (140) Appalachian State Hunter Adams (Gainesville) - Georgia 3A State Champion (182) Levi Andrews (Avery County) - North Carolina 1A State Champion (285) Kaden Keiser (Winner Area) - South Dakota Class B State Champion (145) Ethan Shell (Avery County) - North Carolina 1A State Champion (138) Arizona State Tyler Antoniak (Millard South) - Nebraska Class A State Champion (152) Corey Camden (College Park) - Texas 6A State Qualifier (138) Diego Chavez (Santa Cruz Valley) - Arizona D4 State Champion (175) Michael Kilic (Woodward Academy) - Georgia 5A State Champion (160) Jacob Meissner (Osseo) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (220) Damion Schunke (Brandon Valley) - South Dakota Class A State Champion (195) Caleb Vanbuskirk (Palm Desert) - California State Qualifier (220) Army West Point Evan Anderson (Western Reserve) - National Prep fourth-place (220) Oscar Aranda (St. John Bosco) - California State third-place (160) Braden Basile (Tampa Jesuit) - Florida 2A State Champion (132) Joel Brown (Landon) - National Prep third-place (132) - Class of 2023 Sam Cartella (Western Reserve) - National Prep Runner-Up (138) - Class of 2023 Conor Collins (Southern Regional) - New Jersey State third Place (120) - Class of 2023 Gage Cook (Granger) - Washington 1B/2B State Champion (285) Nick Corday (Baylor School) - Tennessee DII State Champion (113) Gunner Filipowicz (Woodward Academy) - Georgia 5A State Champion (170) Cooper Haase (Osceola) - Florida 3A State Champion (138) Tommy Link (Malvern Prep) - National Prep third-place (113) Kent McCombs (Clinton) - Michigan D3 State third-place (160) Dakota Morris (Kingsway) - New Jersey State Runner-Up (157) Jaime Rivera (Sunnyside) - Arizona D1 State Champion (150) Ben Rogers (Wantagh) - New York DI State Runner-Up (152) Augustana Max Ramberg (Baldwin-Woodville) - Wisconsin D2 State Champion (195) Averett Braeden Fluke (Great Bridge) - Virginia 4A State third-place (220) Binghamton Carter Baer (Gouverneur) - New York DII State Champion (160) Will Ebert (Fairfield) - Connecticut Class LL State Champion (170) Fin Nadeau (Flathead) - Montana AA State Champion (145) Charlie Tibbitts (New Hartford/Saquoit Valley) - New York DI State Champion Brown Jared Brunner (Eastern) - New Jersey State Runner-Up (113) Jacob Gonzales (Holly) - Michigan D2 State Champion (160) Nicholas Olivieri (Delbarton) - New Jersey State fourth place (190) Bucknell Johnny Lopez (Poway) - California State third-place (138) Murphy Menke (Ponderosa) - Colorado 5A State Champion (160) Cal Baptist MJ Gaitan (Temecula Valley) - California State Champion (160) Kainoa Medina (Vacaville) - California State sixth-place (106) Mitchell Mesenbrink (Arrowhead) - Wisconsin D1 State Champion (152) Cal Poly Ty Chandler (Clovis North) - California State Qualifier (120) Cade Creighton (Palo Alto) - California State fifth-place (182) Koda Holeman (Clovis) - California State fifth-place (113) Dominic Mendez (Righetti) - California State Runner-Up (113) Luke Meyer (Capistrano Valley) - California State Qualifier (285) Zeth Romney (Chaminade) - California State Runner-Up (126) Cash Stewart (Poynette) - Wisconsin D3 State Runner-Up (160) Michael Torres (Oakdale) - California State Qualifier (126) Luke Villaluz (Corona Del Mar) - California State Qualifier (138) Wesley Wilson (Morro Bay) - California State Qualifier (182) Campbell Dom Baker (New Kent) - Virginia 3A State Champion (170) Devon Bell (Laney) - North Carolina 4A State Champion (182) Jack Hawbaker (Great Bridge) - Virginia 4A State Runner-Up (152) Hagen Heistand (Underwood) - Iowa 1A State Champion (145) Central Michigan Logan Badge (Clinton) - Michigan D3 State Runner-Up (189) Grayson Sonntag (Tonganoxie) - Kansas 4A State Runner-Up (138) Central Oklahoma Jaxon Randall (Edmond North) - Oklahoma 6A State Champion (170) Chadron State Jackson Tonkovich (Batavia) - Illinois 3A State Qualifier (182) Chattanooga Cole Cochran (Woodland Cartersville) - Georgia 5A State Champion (160) Jeremy Paradice (Colquitt County) - Georgia 7A State Champion (160) Cole Thomas (Ryle) - Kentucky State Champion (132) Clarion Chase Cordia (Osage) - Missouri Class 2 State Champion (182) Cleveland State Dylan Layton (Indian Land) - South Carolina 4A State Champion (145) Keith Ransom (Mexico) - Missouri Class 2 State Runner-Up (145) Columbia Richard Fedalen (McDonogh) - National Prep Runner-Up (152) Evan Frost (Dowling Catholic) - Iowa 3A State Champion (132) Jacob Frost (Dowling Catholic) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (138) Kai Owen (Wyoming Seminary) - National Prep third-place (138) Jack Wehmeyer (Malvern Prep) - National Prep Runner-Up (182) Yianni Vines (Thompson) - Alabama 7A State Champion (126) Cornell Foster Cardinale (Liberty) - Virginia 4A State Runner-Up (126) Ashton Davis (Cleveland) - Tennessee AA State Champion (285) Aiden Hanning (Northfield Mt. Hermon) - National Prep Champion (195) Simon Ruiz (Delbarton) - New Jersey State Champion (157) - Class of 2023 CSU Bakersfield Paul Sharp (Clovis North) - California State Champion (220) Davidson Devin Diaco (Trinity-Pawling) - National Prep Qualifier (126) Jarek Stewart-Karolweics (Brevard) - North Carolina 2A State Runner-Up (285) Davis & Elkins Nick Cottone (Shawnee) - New Jersey State Qualifier (126) Brenden Hansen (Hightstown) - New Jersey State eighth-place (285) Tanner Peake (Hunterdon Central) - New Jersey State fourth-place (157) Drexel Gabe Giampietro (Smyrna) - Delaware State Champion (120) Jordan Soriano (Clarke) - New York DII State Champion (138) Ethan Wilson (Washington Township) - New Jersey State Qualifier (150) Gardner-Webb Jeff Jacome (South Plainfield) - New Jersey State Qualifier (113) Tyson Lane (Brandon) - Florida 2A State Champion (120) Josh McCuthen (Valdosta) - Georgia 6A State Champion (195) George Mason Alex Frowert (Atlee) - Virginia 4A State Champion (152) Donovan Sprouse (Patriot) - Virginia 6A State Runner-Up (220) Harvard Joe Cangro (Bergen Catholic) - New Jersey State Champ (138) Jack Crook (Tampa Jesuit) - Florida 2A State Champion (152) Hofstra Alex Turley (Webster Groves) - Missouri Class 3 third-place (126) Illinois Brian Beers (Barrington) - Illinois 3A State fifth-place (126) Kole Brower (Moline) - Illinois 3A State Champion (138) Kannon Webster (Washington) - Illinois 2A State Champion (132) Indiana Cole Rhemrev (Stevenson) - Illinois 3A State fifth-place (138) Gabe Sollars (Mater Dei) - Indiana State Champion (195) Indianapolis Mason Cantu (Hart) - Michigan D3 State Runner-Up (145) Nathan Smith (Southport) - Indiana State third-place (106) Iowa Ryder Block (Waverly-Shell Rock) - Iowa 3A State Champion (138) - Class of 2023 Easton Fleshman (West Lyon) - Iowa 2A State Champion (285) Bradley Hill (Bettendorf) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (195) Joel Jesuroga (Southeast Polk) - Iowa 3A State sixth-place (145) Nate Jesuroga (Southeast Polk) - Iowa 3A State Champion (126) - Class of 2023 Ben Kueter (City High) - Iowa 3A State Champion (220) - Class of 2023 Carson Martinson (Southeast Polk) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (160) Carter Martinson (Southeast Polk) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (152) Drake Rhodes (Billings West) - Montana AA State Champion (160) Jace Rhodes (Mason City) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (132) Aiden Riggins (Waverly-Shell Rock) - Iowa 3A State Champion (160) Iowa State Carter Fousek (Crestwood) - Iowa 2A State Champion (138) Tate Naaktgeboren (Linn-Mar) - Iowa 3A State Champion (170) - Class of 2023 Manuel Rojas (Detroit Central Catholic) - Michigan D1 State Runner-Up (171) Christian Stanek (Xavier) - Iowa 3A State third-place (160) Casey Swiderski (Dundee) - Michigan D3 State Champion (152) Fernando Villaescusa (Gilbert) - Iowa 2A State Runner-Up (182) Kent State Eli Ashcroft (Kearney) - Missouri Class 3 State Champion (145) Keith Barr (Hickman) - Missouri Class 4 State sixth-place (138) Nico Calello (St. Joseph - Metuchen) - New Jersey State sixth place (120) Billy Meiszner (Providence Catholic) - Illinois 3A State fourth-place (132) Lander Samuel Gerard (Robinson) - Virginia 6A State Champion (152) Jackson Harms (Hillcrest) - South Carolina 5A State Champion (170) Brayton Killiri (Summerville) - South Carolina 5A State Runner-Up (138) Lehigh Remy Brancato (Bergen Catholic) - New Jersey State seventh-place (190) Kimo Leia (Selma) - California State fourth-place (138) - Class of 2023 Justin Onello (Bergen Catholic) - New Jersey State seventh-place (175) - Class of 2023 Caden Rogers (Malvern Prep) - National Prep Runner-Up (220) Lindenwood Aidan Boline (Washburn Rural) - Kansas 6A State Champion (160) Little Rock Brendon Abdon (Lake Gibson) - Florida 2A State Champion (160) Kodiak Cannedy (Greeneville) - Tennessee A State Champion (170) Chance Davis (Perry) - Oklahoma 3A State Champion (160) Kyle Dutton (Liberty) - Missouri Class 4 State Champion (145) Cael Keck (Park Hill) - Missouri Class 4 Runner-Up (132) Stephen Little (Union County) - Kentucky State Champion (190) Keith Miley (Whitfield) - Missouri Class 2 State Champion (285) Brennan Van Hoecke (Palmetto Ridge) - Florida 3A State Champion (145) Maryland Luke Jacobs (Westfield) - New Jersey State Qualifier (138) Kal Miller (Park Hill) - Missouri Class 4 Runner-Up (145) McKendree Logan Rathjen (Liberty) - Missouri Class 4 Runner-Up (152) Michigan Cam Catrabone (Williamsville North) - New York DI State sixth-place (145) - Class of 2024 Dylan Gilcher (Detroit Central Catholic) - Michigan D1 State Champion - Class of 2023 Caden Horwath (Davison) - Michigan D1 State Champion (125) - Class of 2023 Ira Jenkins (Whitehall) - Michigan D2 State Champion (285) Nathan Jerore (Woodhaven) - Michigan D1 State Champion (145) Codei Khawaja (Floyd Central) - Indiana State Qualifier (170) Josh Knudten (Libertyville) - Illinois 3A State Champion (182) Beau Mantanona (Palm Desert) - California State Runner-Up (138) Rylan Rogers (Coeur d'Alene) - Idaho 5A State Champion (195) Michigan State Ceasar Garza (Oakdale) - California State Champion (170) Isiah Pasik (New Lothrop) - Michigan D4 State Runner-Up (285) Minnesota Hunter Lyden (Stillwater) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (170) Max McEnelly (Waconia) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (195) - Class of 2023 Gavin Nelson (Simley) - Minnesota AA State Champion (220) - Class of 2023 Missouri Ryan Boersma (Mt. Carmel) - Illinois 3A State Champion (285) J Conway (Floyd Central) - Indiana State Champion (160) David Cross (Francis Howell Central) - Missouri Class 4 Runner-Up (138) Tommy Hagan (Lafayette) - Missouri Class 4 State Champion (220) Easton Hilton (Liberty) - Missouri Class 4 third-place (138) Carter McCallister (Rock Bridge) - Missouri Class 4 State Champion (138) - Class of 2023 Kaden Moore (Allen) - Texas 6A State Champion (138) Peyton Moore (Nixa) - Missouri Class 4 third-place (126) Zeke Seltzer (Cathedral) - Indiana State Champion (132) Owen Uhls (Fulton) - Missouri Class 2 State Champion (138) Clayton Whiting (Oconto Falls) - Wisconsin D2 State Champion (182) Mount Olive Lucas Cotto (Laney) - North Carolina 4A State Qualifier (113) Navy Jonathan Ley (Lake Highland Prep) - National Prep Runner-Up (170) Ryder Rogotzke (Stillwater) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (182) - Class of 2023 Evan Tallmadge (Brick Memorial) - New Jersey State Champion (120) Nick Vafiadis (New Kent) - Virginia 3A State Champion (160) Danny Wask (Blair Academy) - National Prep Champion (170) NC State Jackson Baglio (Central Cabarrus) - North Carolina 3A State Champion (120) - Class of 2023 Koy Buesgens (New Prague) - Minnesota AA State Champion (138) - Class of 2023 Danny Curran (Dekalb) - Illinois 3A State fifth-place (132) Tommy Curran (Dekalb) - Illinois 3A State Champion (145) Chase Horne (West Laurens) - Georgia 4A State Champion (285) Jeremiah Price (Surry Central) - North Carolina 2A State Champion (152) - Class of 2023 Vincent Robinson (Homewood) - Illinois 3A State Runner-Up (126) - Class of 2023 Cheaney Schoeff (Avon) - Indiana State third-place (132) - Class of 2023 Matthew Singleton (Woodward Academy) - Georgia 5A State Champion (182) Nebraska Harley Andrews (Tuttle) - Oklahoma 4A State Champion (285) Alan Koehler (Prior Lake) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (120) - Class of 2023 Antrell Taylor (Millard South) - Nebraska Class A State Champion (170) Nebraska-Kearney Joey Airola (Boulder) - Colorado 5A State sixth-place (132) Jacob Awiszus (Gering) - Nebraska Class B State Champion (182) Cael Erickson (Cedar Grove-Belgium) - Wisconsin D3 State Runner-Up (145) Newberry Aidan Lambert (Kellam) - Virginia 6A State fifth-place (160) North Carolina Nasir Bailey (Rich Township) - Illinois 3A State Champion (132) Cole Hunt (Cass) - Georgia 5A State Champion (120) Max Martin (Great Bridge) - Virginia 4A State sixth-place (120) Danny Nini (Lake Highland Prep) - National Prep third-place (152) Jayden Scott (Rush-Henrietta) - New York DI State Champion (145) Cade Tenold (Don Bosco) - Iowa 1A State Champion (170) Carson Tenold (Don Bosco) - Iowa 1A State Champion (195) North Dakota State Fernando Barreto (Walnut) - California State Qualifier (132) Walker Bents (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) - Minnesota A State Champion (132) Gavin Drexler (Stratford) - Wisconsin D3 State Champion (138) Boeden Greenley (Lisbon) - North Dakota Class B State Champion (160) Brendan Howes (Anoka) - Minnesota AAA State Qualifier (145) Landen Johnson (Owatonna) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (160) Maxwell Petersen (Byron) - Minnesota AA State Champion (145) Zach Silvis (Park) - Minnesota AAA State Runner-Up (120) Northern Colorado Andrew Blackburn-Forst (Lockport) - Illinois 3A State Champion (220) Bryce Garcia (Pueblo County) - Colorado 4A State Champion (170) Brady Hankin (Woodland Park) - Colorado 3A State Runner-Up (138) Kobi Johnson (Loveland) - Colorado 4A State Champion (120) Derek Matthews (Declo) - Idaho 2A State Champion (182) Quentin Saunders (Goddard) - Kansas 5A State Champion (182) Northern Illinois Tom Bennett (Brother Rice) - Illinois 2A State Champion (170) Jacob Brya (St. Johns) - Michigan D2 State Champion (140) Damien Lopez (Dekalb) - Illinois 3A State third-place (152) Eli Rocha (Platte County) - Missouri Class 3 State Champion (138) Northern Iowa Trever Anderson (Ankeny) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (120) Chet Buss (North Butler-Clarksville) - Iowa 1A State Champion (285) Garrett Funk (Don Bosco) - Iowa 1A State Runner-Up (132) Cory Land (Moody) - Alabama 5A/6A State Champion (138) Wyatt Voelker (West Delaware) - Iowa 2A State Champion (195) Northern State Carter Ban (Anoka) - Minnesota AAA State fifth-place (138) Max Balow (Lake City) - Minnesota AA State Runner-Up (285) Payton Handevidt (Jackson County Central) - Minnesota A State Champion (160) Northwestern Sammie Hayes (Carl Sandburg) - Illinois 3A State sixth-place (120) Joseph Martin (Buchanan) - California State Champion (182) Kai Neumark (Deerfield) - Illinois 2A State Runner-Up (138) Ohio Charlie Heydorn (Lake Forest) - Illinois 2A State fourth-place (182) Ohio State Nic Bouzakis (Wyoming Seminary) - National Prep Champion (132) Nick Feldman (Malvern Prep) - National Prep Champion (285) Jesse Mendez (Crown Point) - Indiana State Champion (138) Oklahoma Joey Cruz (Clovis North) - California State Champion (113) KJ Evans (Heritage Hall) - Oklahoma 4A State Champion (152) - Class of 2023 Christian Forbes (Broken Arrow) - Oklahoma 6A State Runner-Up (106) Zan Fugitt (Nixa) - Missouri Class 4 State Champion (120) - Class of 2023 AJ Heeg (Edmond Memorial) - Oklahoma 6A State Champion (182) - Class of 2023 Anthony Santaniello (Brick Memorial) - New Jersey State Runner-Up (132) - Class of 2023 Kaden Smith (Bridge Creek) - Oklahoma 4A State third-place (132) John Wiley (Mustang) - Oklahoma 6A State third-place (160) Oklahoma State Zach Blankenship (Bixby) - Oklahoma 6A State Champion (132) Cael Hughes (Stillwater) - Oklahoma 6A State Champion (126) - Class of 2023 Jersey Robb (Bixby) - Oklahoma 6A State Champion (195) - Class of 2023 Cutter Sheets (Stilwell) - Oklahoma 4A State Runner-Up (145) Jordan Williams (Owasso) - Oklahoma 6A State Runner-Up (160) Oregon State Isaiah Anderson (Chiawana) - Washington 4A State Champion (195) Chase DeBlaere (Simley) - Minnesota AA State Runner-Up (132) Damion Elliot (Del Oro) - California State sixth-place (132) CJ Hamblin (Mountain View) - Washington 3A State Champion (170) Austin Scott (Mountain View) - Arizona D2 State Champion (157) Nash Singleton (Roseburg) - Oregon 6A State Champion (132) Noah Tolentino (Poway) - California State third-place (145) Gabe Whisenhunt (Crescent Valley) - Oregon 5A State Champion (126) Cade White (Meridian) - Idaho 5A State Runner-Up (145) Penn Alex Almeyda (St. Joseph's) - New Jersey State third-place (138) Christian Carroll (New Prairie) - Indiana State Champion (220) - Class of 2023 Andrew Connolly (Malvern Prep) - National Prep third-place (195) Martin Cosgrove (Camden Catholic) - New Jersey State Champion (215) Evan Mougalian (Kinnelon) - New Jersey State Champion (126) Jackson Polo (Cold Spring Harbor) - New York DII State Champion (145) Brady Pruett (Archbishop Spaulding) - National Prep fifth-place (126) Andrew Troczynski (Delbarton) New Jersey State Champion (150) Cross Wasilewski (Delbarton) - New Jersey State third-place (144) - Class of 2023 Penn State Josh Barr (Davison) - Michigan D1 State Champion (171) - Class of 2023 Braeden Davis (Dundee) - Michigan D3 State Champion (119) - Class of 2023 Presbyterian Ty Chittum (Great Bridge) - Virginia 4A State Champion (160) Ryan Luna (St. Francis) - California State Qualifier (132) Princeton Rocco Camillaci (Hilton) - New York DI State Champion (152) Drew Lang (West) - Utah 6A State Champion (144) Christopher Martino (Bishop Kelly) - Idaho 4A State Champion (132) Kole Mulhauser (Central Square) - New York DI State Champion (189) Eligh Rivera (Lake Highland Prep) - National Prep Champion (138) - Class of 2023 Ty Whalen (Clearview Regional) - New Jersey State Runner-Up (144) Purdue Brody Baumann (Mater Dei) - Indiana State Champion (170) Rider D'Amani Almodovar (St. Augustine) - New Jersey State Qualifier (126) Angelo Esposito (Northgate) - California State Qualifier (170) Hogan Horsey (Oakcrest) - New Jersey State Qualifier (126) Hunter Horsey (Oakcrest) - New Jersey State Qualifier (132) Hunter Mays (Howell) - New Jersey State Champion (165) Roanoke Zane Cox (Benedictine) - National Prep fourth-place (160) Rutgers PJ Casale (Delbarton) - New Jersey State Runner-Up (215) Joe Fongaro (Boonton) - New Jersey State Champion (144) Luke Gayer (Calvary Chapel) - California State Runner-Up (160) Brian Soldano (High Point) - New Jersey State Champion (190) SIU Edwardsville Andrew Doehring (Lafayette) - Missouri Class 4 fourth-place (138) Bradley Gillum (Dekalb) - Illinois 3A State Runner-Up (182) Marcel Lopez (New London) - Iowa 1A State Champion (126) Alec Peralta (Temecula Valley) - California State seventh-place (145) Brock Woodcock (St. Clair) - Missouri Class 2 State Champion (145) - Class of 2023 South Dakota State Bennett Berge (Kasson-Mantorville) - Minnesota AA State Champion (195) Brock Fettig (Bismarck) - North Dakota Class A State Champion (182) Logan Graf (Rapid City Stevens) - South Dakota Class A State Champion (126) Christian Noble (Big Lake) - Minnesota AA State Champion (126) Luke Rasmussen (Brookings) - South Dakota Class A State Champion (220) Caleb Thoennes (St. Michael-Albertville) - Minnesota AAA State sixth-place (132) Kail Wynia (Kasson-Mantorville) - Minnesota AA State third-place (182) St. Cloud State Ethan Birch (Vacaville) - California State Qualifier (145) Archer Heelan (Kearney) - Nebraska Class A State fifth-place (120) Owen Herbst (Buffalo) - Minnesota AAA State Qualifier (160) Donnie Hidden (Washington) - Illinois 2A State Runner-Up (195) Elijah Novak (Foley) - Minnesota AA State Champion (285) Nick Renteria (IC Catholic) - Illinois 1A State Champion (120) Brandon Ross (Caledonia-Houston) - Minnesota A State sixth-place (126) Logan Vaughan (Kasson-Mantorville) - Minnesota AA State Runner-Up (152) Jaydon Walls (Platte County) - Missouri Class 3 State Champion (195) Stanford Brook Byers (Sprague) - Oregon 6A State Champion (182) Daniel Cardenas (Pomona) - Colorado 5A State Champion (152) Jack Darrah (Wyoming Seminary) - National Prep third-place (220) Hunter Garvin (Iowa City West) - Iowa 3A State Champion (152) Zach Hanson (Lakeville North) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (145) - Class of 2023 Lain Yapoujian (Byers) - Colorado 2A State Champion (138) - Class of 2023 The Citadel Aiden Curry (Central Academy) - North Carolina 3A State Champion (160) Caelan Riley (Libertyville) - Illinois 3A State third-place (120) Dillon Roman (Monarch) - Colorado 5A State Runner-Up (138) Thomas Snipes (Hillcrest) - South Carolina 5A State Champion (145) Hayden Watson (Center Grove) - Indiana State Champion (145) Virginia Robert Avila Jr. (Iowa City West) - Iowa 3A State Runner-Up (145) Griffin Gammel (Waukee Northwest) - Iowa 3A State Champion (182) Jack Gioffre (Buchanan) - California State Champion (132) Michael Gioffre (Buchanan) - California State Champion (138) Garrett Grice (Bellevue East) - Nebraska Class A State Champion (138) Nick Hamilton (Papillion-La Vista) - Nebraska Class A State Champion (160) RJ May (Maggie Walker) - Virginia 3A State Champion (182) Kyle Montaperto (Central Academy) - North Carolina 3A State Champion (126) Keyveon Roller (Lakeway Christian) - Tennessee DII State Champion (132) Cooper Rudolph (Robinson) - Virginia 6A State Champion (285) Nick Sanko (Pittsford) - New York DI State Runner-Up (160) Virginia Tech Tom Crook (Tampa Jesuit) - Florida 2A State Champion (145) Logan Frazier (Crown Point) - Indiana State Champion (126) - Class of 2023 Caleb Henson (Woodland-Cartersville) - Georgia 5A State Champion (152) Evan Holloway (New Kent) - Virginia 3A State Champion (145) Aiden Lacoma (Christensburg) - Virginia 3A State Champion (285) Hunter Mason (Greeneville) - Tennessee A State Champion (145) - Class of 2023 TJ Stewart (Blair Academy) - National Prep Champion (220) VMI Dyson Dunham (Benedictine) - National Prep fifth-place (132) Wisconsin Brock Bobzien (Poway) - California State third-place (132) Greyson Clark (Kaukauna) - Wisconsin D1 State Champion (138) - Class of 2023 Felix Lettini (St. Peters Prep) - New Jersey State fifth-place (138) Nicolar Rivera (Stoughton) - Wisconsin D1 State Champion (126) James Rowley (Crescent Valley) - Oregon 5A State Champion (182) Mikey Tal-Shahar (American Heritage) - Florida 1A State Champion (195) Wyoming Garrison Dendy (Baylor School) - Tennessee DII State Champion (138) David Harper (Baylor School) - Tennessee DII State Champion (195) Jore Volk (Lakeville North) - Minnesota AAA State Champion (132) Kevin Zimmer (Carl Sandburg) - Illinois 3A State Runner-Up (285)

Messiah's national qualifier Josiah Gehr (top) (Photo/Messiah athletics) It is indisputable that the toughest level of college wrestling is happening on the NCAA Division I front. However, throughout history, there have been a variety of wrestlers from other divisions who have gone on to make a name on the international level. For example, former Nebraska-Kearney wrestler Tervel Dlagnev officially received his Olympic bronze medal this past week, and fellow Loper veteran Kamaru Usman currently holds the UFC welterweight title. Unlike many college sports, there is still a fair bit of competition across levels. It is not irregular for an NAIA team to face off against a Division I team in a tournament or even a dual. This past season there were 52 duals between Division I teams and teams from other divisions. In a sign that perhaps the gap is widening, only one team from a lower division was able to win one of these matches. The following looks back at that dual and some of the top individual performances across inter-divisional duals. The only team from a lower division to best a top-level team in a dual this season was Averett. The Division III squad knocked off Bellarmine 22-16 in a match back on Nov. 13. To be fair, Bellarmine just launched their wrestling program in 2016 and only moved up to the Division-I level for the 2021 season. However, Averett is also a budding program as the school began competing during the 2018 season. The dual was part of the Patriot Duals hosted by George Mason. The Cougars won the first four matches of the match as Sam Braswell (125), Joseph Jones (133), Brandon Woody (141) and Gabe LaVey (149). Bellarmine made things interesting by going on a four-match streak of their own. However, Averett sealed the victory in the final two matches. At 197, Billy Baldwin scored a decision over Charlie Cadell to even the dual score at 16-16. With the result on the line, heavyweight Trent Ragland scored a third-period fall over Bryant Wilkinson. A few weeks ago, Averett finished third in the Southeast Regional and qualified four wrestlers for the upcoming NCAA tournament. Braswell won the qualifying tournament while Woody, Alex Turley, and Hunter Campbell also qualified. Outside of Averett's victory, the only other team from a lower division to come within a match against a Division I team was Cumberland. The NAIA team dropped a 25-10 match against Chattanooga on Nov. 6. The Mocs forfeited 125 pounds, but Cumberland wrestlers Cole Smith (165), River Henry (197) and Patrick Depiazza (285) scored victories as well. All three qualified for last weekend's NAIA tournament. Smith, a refugee from the dropped Old Dominion program, pinned Grand View's Marty Margolis in the finals to claim the NAIA title at 165 pounds and finish the season undefeated. While dual victories were hard to come by this season, there were some standout individual performances by lower division wrestlers in these duals. The following are some of the best wins by these competitors against ranked or nearly ranked Division I wrestlers. 165: No. 1 Matt Malcom (Nebraska-Kearney - Division II) decision over No. 30 Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 10-5 Malcom was an Iowa state champion in high school and started his collegiate career with the Hawkeyes before transferring to Nebraska-Kearney. With the Lopers, he has already become a three-time All-American and won a national title at 157 pounds in 2019. This year he is back, looking to reach the top of the podium once again. Malcom recently won the Super Region 6 title and holds a 26-2 record, with one of those losses coming against No. 1 Evan Wick (Cal Poly). Nebraska hosted in-state foes Chadron State and Nebraska-Kearney to open this season. Wilson joined the starting lineup after going 19-3 as a redshirt in 2020 and sitting out the 2021 season with an injury. Wilson scored the first two takedowns of the lead and had a 5-1 lead about halfway into the second period. However, Malcom turned things around with a takedown and tile to finish the frame. He scored the final nine points of the bout and took the decision victory. The two rematched at the CKLV Invitational, and this time Wilson won the bout via an 11-5 score. The Nebraska wrestler is currently ranked in the InterMat rankings. He entered last weekend's Big Ten tournament as the eighth seed, but finished sixth to qualify for the NCAA tournament. 133: No. 10 Jack Huffman (Augustana - Division II) decision over No. 26 Kellyn March (North Dakota State) 5-3 Huffman recently won the Super Region 5 tournament to qualify for his first NCAA tournament. He went 18-1 on the season, with his only loss coming against No. 13 Kaden Anderlik (Upper Iowa). During the year, Huffman actually picked up a pair of wins over Division I opposition, but his win over March was his most impressive. The bout was part of a dual that the Bison ended up winning 28-10. During regulation, Huffman was able to score a reversal and escape, and the bout went to sudden victory even at 3-3. In the extra period, The Augustana wrestler broke through and took the 5-3 victory. March went 14-7 prior to the Big 12 tournament and holds an impressive fall victory over No. 27 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State). He entered this past weekend's Big 12 tournament as the number-four seed but dropped both of his matches. He missed out on an at-large bid to make the NCAA tournament. 141: No. 9 Josiah Gehr (Messiah - Division III) fall over Seth Koleno (Clarion) Gehr entered this season as a two-time NCAA qualifier. He has gone 33-4 on the year and recently finished second at the Southeast Regional. That finals appearance earned him yet another trip to the NCAA tournament. On Dec. 11, Messiah hosted a quadrangular against Clarion, Lock Haven and Stevens Tech. It was a tough day for the Falcons as they dropped all three duals. However, Gehr's performance at 141 pounds was certainly a bright spot. Earlier in the day, Koleno had taken a major decision over No. 5 Kyle Slendorn (Stevens Tech), who had handed Gehr two of his four losses on the season, so the Clarion wrestler appeared to be a clear favorite. However, Gehr was able to pick up the fall only 1:22 into the match. Koleno finished the regular season with a 25-7 record. He is not currently ranked by InterMat, but he is 21st in the RPI, which indicates he faced a rather demanding schedule during the year. He entered the MAC tournament as the third seed. He needed to place in the top three to automatically qualify for the tournament but ended up finishing fifth. Koleno did not receive an at-large bid to make the tournament.

Northern Colorado's first Big 12 champion Andrew Alirez (Photo/Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) With the at-large's announced on Tuesday and brackets released last night, the NCAA Championships are officially looming. And now, less than a week away. Before we get into the meat and potatoes of our previews, here's a fun look at the NCAA Tournament, its competitors (individuals/teams). It's some of the facts, trends, numbers, and overall randomness that you never thought to look up about the participants of the 2022 NCAA Championships. State-Related Notes Alaska has a pair of state qualifiers (Caleb Hopkins - Campbell and Evan Bockman - Utah Valley). It's the first time since 2012 that the state has produced multiple qualifiers. Those 2012 qualifiers were Nathan Hoffer (Arizona State/141) and Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State/197). Florida has a big year with 11 NCAA qualifiers. That's the biggest total for the state in at least 20 years (my records are fuzzy before 2000). The only other time in that span that Florida had double digits was 2009. They were Obe Blanc (Oklahoma State/125), Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan/125), Franklin Gomez (Michigan State/133), Frank Celorrio (Appalachian State/133), Chris Bencivenga (UNC Greensboro/141), Jake Patacsil (Purdue/149), Cesar Grajales (Penn/149), David Craig (Lehigh/184), Odie Delaney (The Citadel/197), Rashard Goff (Cleveland State/285). A lot has been made about Georgia's rise on the high school scene, which has spilled over into college. This year, Georgia actually has fewer national qualifiers (seven) than any year since 2017. There were five NCAA qualifiers from Georgia that wrestled at the 2021 tournament, who didn't qualify in 2022. Illinois has an astounding 32 NCAA qualifiers. The only time in the last 20 years that they have had more than 30 was in 2017, when they had 31. Indiana has 13 NCAA qualifiers, which is a normal figure for them. They do have an incredible crop at 141 lbs with three multiple-time All-Americans in Nick Lee (Penn State), Stevan Micic (Michigan), and Chad Red Jr (Nebraska). Kansas' seven national qualifiers represents the state's best showing in a decade. They had six in 2021, but the last time they had seven was in 2012. They were Nathan McCormick (Missouri/133), Jordan Keller (Oklahoma/133), Kendric Maple (Oklahoma/141), Tyler Koehn (Nebraska/174), Kyle Detmer (Oklahoma/174), Boaz Beard (Iowa State/184), and Steve Andrus (Michigan State/285). Ohio's 22 national qualifiers are the state's lowest total in at least 20 years. During that time, the state's highwater mark was in 2015 when they had 38. That year 11 of those 38 AA'ed. Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) is the only national qualifier from Oregon in 2022. Oregon had produced at least three per year, for the last 20 years (maybe longer). To no one's surprise, Pennsylvania led all states with 45 NCAA qualifiers. While 184 and 197 had the most PA natives in their bracket (7 each). The pure quality of 174 lbs can't be overlooked. Five of the top nine seeds at the weight class are from Pennsylvania. #1 Carter Starocci (Erie), #4 Hayden Hidlay (Lewistown), #5 Michael Kemerer (Murrysville), #6 Ethan Smith (Latrobe), #9 Mikey Labriola (Easton). #25 Gerrit Nijenhuis is also in the bracket. Texas had no NCAA qualifiers after having at least four in every year since 2017. The last time the state failed to produce an NCAA qualifier was back in 2011. Virginia has eight NCAA qualifiers, but three of them came at 125 lbs. Killian Cardinale (West Virginia), Joey Prata (Oklahoma), and Patrick McCormick (Virginia) comprise the lightweights from VA. The only wrestler in the tournament from New Mexico (Real Woods) will meet the only one from New Hampshire (Connor McGonagle) in the opening round at 141 lbs. The only two wrestlers from Massachusetts in the entire tournament are set to square off against one another at 165 lbs with #8 Phil Conigliaro (Havard) and #25 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton). School-Related Notes Air Force crowned their first-ever Big Champion in Wyatt Hendrickson at 285 lbs. Their most recent conference champion was Greg Rinker at 133 lbs in 2014. Codi Russell has become Appalachian State's first four-time NCAA qualifier since Austin Trotman did so from 2008-12. Cal Poly had five wrestlers qualify for NCAA's. It was the first time the Mustangs had that many since 2010. Those were Boris Novachkov/133, Filip Novachkov/141, Nick Fisher/149, Chase Pami/157, and Ryan DesRoches/174. Central Michigan's 285 lber Matt Stencel became the first-ever five-time MAC champion with his win over Isaac Reid (Lock Haven). Clarion has had one NCAA qualifier in each of the last two seasons. Both were 197 lbers. Greg Bulsak last year and Will Feldkamp this year. For the second consecutive year, Cleveland State has sent three wrestlers to the Big Dance. The last time the Vikings had at least three in back-to-back years was in 2006-07. Duke's Finesilver twins (Josh and Matt) both qualified for NCAA's. This marks the 14th time that a member of their family has wrestled at the national tournament. Since 2015, Duke has seen wrestlers qualify for nationals on 26 occasions. Only 12 were by Blue Devil's not named Finesilver. Wil Gil finished third at EIWA's and locked up an automatic bid to Detroit. He's only the third Franklin & Marshall wrestler to qualify for nationals since 2012. Richard Durso did it four times and Antonio Pelusi three. Phil Conigliaro's EIWA championship was the first by a Harvard wrestler since Devon Gobbo won the conference (at the same weight class) in 2016. Illinois' four NCAA qualifiers are the team's lowest number since 2010. For the third consecutive year, Iowa will be sending all ten postseason starters to nationals. This is the first time during that time that all ten automatically qualified through the conference tournament. Alex Marinelli won his fourth Big Ten title and surprisingly became the first Iowa wrestler to do so since Mark Ironside in 1995-98. David Carr's third Big 12 championship made him the first Cyclone wrestler to accomplish the feat since Kyven Gadson did so from 2013-15. Iowa State's NCAA qualifiers comprise one of the most diverse in terms of home states (or countries) out of any team in the country. They have two from Iowa (Joel Devine and Marcus Coleman). One from Hawaii (Kysen Terukina), Michigan (Ian Parker), Montana (Jarrett Degen), Ohio (Carr), and New York (Schuyler). Also Ramazan Attasauov is from Russia and Yonger Bastida is from Cuba. Jordan Wood became the first-ever five-time EIWA champion with a 2-0 shutout of Cornell's Lewis Fernandes. From 2015-2020, all of Lock Haven's national qualifiers were Pennsylvania residents. 2014 saw New York's Mac Maldarelli make the dance at 149 lbs. This year is quite the opposite as three of their five NQs are from outside of PA. Anthony Noto (New York), Ben Barton (Kentucky) and Ashton Eyler (Ohio). Michigan won their first Big Ten team title since 1973. Also related to Michigan. The Wolverines placed five wrestlers in the Big Ten finals for the first time since 1991. One of those finalists for Michigan at 158 lbs was their current head coach, Sean Bormet. He lost to current Ohio State head coach, Tom Ryan, 4-3. Myles Amine became Michigan's first two-time Big Ten champion since Kellen Russell won four between 2008-12. Gable Steveson won his third Big Ten title. He became the first Minnesota wrestler to accomplish the feat since fellow heavyweight Tony Nelson won three between 2012-14. Missouri returned to the Big 12 in style. Brian Smith's team reclaimed the Big 12 crown, one that they had won during their final year (2011-12) before moving to the MAC. Since then, Mizzouri has won 11 straight conference titles. Two in the Big 12 and nine in the MAC. NC State saw all ten of their wrestlers qualify automatically for nationals. None of them finished lower than third at the ACC Championships. Nebraska's Big Ten finals woes continued. They have now dropped nine consecutive Big Ten finals, a streak that dates back to 2016. Eric Schultz fell in the 197 lb finals for the third straight year. Andrew Alirez made history for the Northern Colorado program. He became the school's first Big 12 champion, by winning the 141 lb weight class. The past two years, they have placed a wrestler in the finals (Jackson Hemauer - 2021 and Mosha Schwartz - 2020). UNC's last conference champion was Mitchell Polkowske at 165 lbs in the West Regional/WWC. Northern Illinois saw three wrestlers come away with MAC titles (Izzak Olejnik - 165, Mason Kauffman - 174, Brit Wilson - 184). The last time the Huskies crowned three champs in the same year was 2003. That year it was Sam Hiatt (133), Scott Owen (157), and Ben Heizer (184), who did it. Northern Iowa's unreal streak of dominance at 184 lbs continued. The Panthers had a champion at the weight class for the fifth consecutive year. He's won the last two titles; Taylor Lujan won it in 2020. Drew Foster was the champion in 2018-19. With the addition of 149 lber Yahya Thomas through the at-large process, Northwestern will send all ten of their starters to Detroit. It's the third time the program has sent all ten and the first time since 1970. Ryan Deakin won the 157 lb Big Ten Championship. He is only the third Wildcat to win three, joining Jake Herbert (2006-07, 2009) and Wesley Brown (1931-33) Ohio State did not crown a Big Ten champion for the first time since 2011. The Big 12 consolation semifinal bout at 184 lbs, one needed for an NCAA berth, featured a pair of ex-teammates squaring off. Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) and Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State), were both Cowboys before Moore transferred UNI then to OU. Moore defeated Geer by a 9-4 margin, the same score he amassed during their Bedlam meeting, as well. Oklahoma State will roll into Detroit with eight NCAA qualifiers. That's the fewest for the Cowboys since they sent eight in 2008. Oregon State has eight wrestlers qualified for NCAA's. The last time they had eight was in 2014. Penn made a whole lot of history with their performance at the EIWA's. The team's runner-up finish at the tournament was its best showing since they were second in 2010. The Quakers nine national qualifiers is a school record. Head coach Roger Reina was named the conference Coach of the Year, an award he received on three previous occasions; however, the most recent was in 1999. Though Penn State came up just short of a Big Ten title, they had four champions, a mark that's been hit three previous times during the Cael Sanderson era. Penn State's crew heading to Detroit features more NCAA qualifiers from Arizona (Roman Bravo-Young and Beau Bartlett) than Pennsylvania (Carter Starocci). Jake Wentzel won the ACC title for Pittsburgh at 165 lbs for a third consecutive season. Wentzel is the first Panther wrestler to win three ACC championships. Rider's Richie Koehler and Quinn Kinner won MAC titles at back-to-back weights (133/141). It was the first time since they've been part of the MAC that Rider has claimed multiple individual championships. Of the eight NCAA qualifiers for Virginia, three of them were home-grown. That's the highest total for the Cavaliers in over 20 years. Austin Gomez's Big Ten championship was the first for the Wisconsin program under head coach Chris Bono. He's also the first Badger 149 lber ever to win the conference crown. Wisconsin also had a pair of Big Ten finalists in Eric Barnett and Gomez. That marked the first time since 2011 that the team had multiple Big Ten finalists. They were Tyler Graff (133), Andrew Howe (165), and Trevor Brandvold (197). Wyoming's four national qualifiers are the program's least since 2016, when they had three. But, they did have a national finalist that year. Could that happen again? This tournament features six(!) former Fresno State wrestlers. Haiden Drury (Utah Valley), Kyle Parco (Arizona State), Jacob Wright (Wyoming), Matt Olguin (Oregon State), Adam Kemp (Cal Poly), and AJ Nevills (South Dakota State). In the same vein, there are three former Old Dominion wrestlers. Killian Cardinale (West Virginia), Michael McGee (Arizona State) and Shannon Hanna (Campbell). Seeding/Bracketing Evan Wick received the top seed at 165 lbs. He's the first Cal Poly wrestler to earn top billing since Chad Mendes at the 2008 tournament (141 lbs). Cal Poly also has Bernie Truax at #5 at 184 lbs. The last time the Mustangs had multiple wrestlers with top-ten seeds was in 2012 with Boris Novachkov (#6/141) and Ryan DesRoches (#6/174). Michigan has a pair of top-seeded wrestlers in Nick Suriano (125) and Myles Amine (184). The last time multiple Wolverines were seeded #1 was in 2009 with Kellan Russell (141) and Steve Luke (174). Penn State's four number one seeds (RBY, Nick Lee, Starocci, Max Dean) marks the first time in the Cael Sanderson era that more than three PSU wrestlers have been given that distinction. Penn State also has the longest-running streak of any school with at least one #1 seed. They've had one or more every year since 2016. David Carr received the top seed at 157 lbs for Iowa State. He's the first Cyclone to get the number one since Jon Reader did so in 2011. Max Dean gets the top seed at 197 lbs. His brother, Gabe, received the top seed on three occasions. You have to go back to 2013 to find a pair of brothers that have gotten the number one seed, at one point or another, during their careers. Then it was Hunter and Logan Stieber (Ohio State), who happened to get them in the same season. Roman Bravo-Young's top seed at 133 lbs makes him the first Arizona native to receive the #1 seed since Anthony Robles did so in 2011. Likewise, Bravo-Young's teammate Nick Lee is the first Indiana native to hold the top-seed since Angel Escobedo in 2010. A pair of Michigan natives come into the tournament as #1 seeds, Myles Amine (184) and Max Dean (197). The last time multiple Michigan natives were seeded number one was in 2006 with Nick Simmons (125), Ryan Churella (165), and Wynn Michalak (197). Gable Steveson was named the number one seed at heavyweight for the third time in his career. The last heavyweight to earn three number one seeds was Kerry McCoy (Penn State) in 1994, 1995, and 1997. #2 Stephen Buchanan becomes only the fourth Wyoming wrestler during the Mark Branch-era to get a top-two seed at nationals. He joins Bryce Meredith 1/2018, Shane Onufer 2/2012, and Joe LeBlanc 1/2012. With Mekhi Lewis getting the #2 seed at 174 lbs, Virginia Tech has had a #2 in each of the last three years (Sam Latona/2021, Hunter Bolen/2020) and six of the last seven (David McFadden/2018 and Joey Dance/2016-17). West Virginia has a pair of top-ten seeds with #5 Killian Cardinale (125) and #9 Peyton Hall (165). The last time a pair of Mountaineer teammates were seeded in the top ten was 2006. Brandon Radar was ninth at 141 lbs and Matt Lebe was fourth at 157. Wyatt Hendrickson's fifth seed at 285 lbs makes him the first Air Force wrestler to garner a top-ten seed since Josh Martinez in 2014 (#4/125). Josh Heil's #7 seed is the highest in Campbell's program history. The previous mark was an eighth seed, which he and Andrew Morgan received in 2020. There are three wrestlers in this tournament named Dom. Lajoie (Cornell), Zaccone (Campbell), and Solis (Maryland). Lajoie and Zaccone meet in the 133 lb pig-tail match. Be careful filling out your bracket at 141 lbs. You could confuse yourself during the Ian Parker/Parker Filius bout. Former teammates are set to square off in round one at 141 lbs with #16 Quinn Kinner (Rider) and #17 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State). Kinner was at Ohio State and appeared at 133 and 157 lbs before moving on to Rider. Transfer portal madness! In the top quad at 125 lbs, the number one seed is former Penn State wrestler, by way of Rutgers, now at Michigan, Nick Suriano. He'll take on Penn State's current starter, Drew Hildebrandt, a graduate transfer from Central Michigan in the Round of 16. That's provided that Hildebrandt gets by Lock Haven's Anthony Noto, an NC State transfer. 197 lbs will feature a first-round matchup between a pair of Junior World medalists in #10 Yonger Bastida (silver) and #23 Braxton Amos (gold). Whoever wins is likely to face another Junior World Champion in the second round, in #7 Rocky Elam (Missouri). The weight classes that features multiple undefeated wrestlers are: 133: #1 Roman Bravo-Young, #2 Daton Fix 141: #1 Nick Lee, #3 Sebastian Rivera 149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis, #2 Tariq Wilson 157: #1 David Carr, #2 Ryan Deakin, #3 Jacori Teemer 165: #1 Evan Wick, #2 Keegan O'Toole 285: #1 Gable Steveson, #2 Cohlton Schultz, #5 Wyatt Hendrickson The only first-round matchup between returning NCAA All-Americans is a 157 lbs with #2 Ryan Deakin and #31 Wyatt Sheets. Remember when filling out your brackets to include some minor upsets. The last time more than six #1 seeds won titles was in 2012. Last year, only three won.

The top seed at 165 lbs Matt Malcom of Nebraska-Kearney (Photo/Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 125 The returning national champion Cole Laya (West Liberty) highlights a field full of monsters set to do battle in St Louis. The team race is going to be close and with the top four teams all having finalist threats at this weight, things will heat up quickly. Half of the 2021 All-Americans are back in the tournament, including the other finalist Nick Daggett (UNC Pembroke). Joe Arroyo (UW Parkside) is returning to the tournament and looking to make the jump from third to first. He will need to stay ahead of Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma), who enters as the two seed. Be in your seats for bout number two, Evan Carrigan (Newberry) will wrestle the fourth seed Christian Mejia (McKendree). The two met at the NWCA National Duals tournament and Carrigan won the matchup 13-2. Talk about upset special. The bottom of this bracket is total anarchy waiting to happen. Paxton Creese (St. Cloud State) missed out on a nationals trip in 2021, but he earned the three-seed after wins over 2019 finalist Josh Portillo (Nebraska Kearney), Daggett, and Arroyo. Daggett finds himself on Laya's side of the bracket, but the rest of them are all on the bottom side. This weight class has been crazy all year, 2021 All-American Christian Mejia arrived second semester and promptly won the Midwest Classic. Do not overlook Dawson Collins (Colorado Mesa), he made a run at the MWC that saw him fall in finals to Mejia. Collins is just a freshman, but he holds an impressive resume full of wins over Isaiah DeLaCerda, Dagget, Rosen, and Cody Fatzinger (Western Colorado). A third-place finish in SRVI sees him as one of the best unseeded wrestlers at any weight class. I would be remiss if I did not mention the first NCAA Division II national qualifier in Davenport University history, Manuel Leija. The freshman made the SRIII finals and will need to ride that high to continue his charge through history. Quarterfinals #1 Cole Laya (West Liberty) v #8 Jacob Dunlop (Gannon) #5 Nicholas Daggett (UNC Pembroke) vs Dawson Collins (Colorado Mesa) #3 Paxton Creese (St. Cloud State) vs #6 Josh Portillo (Nebraska Kearney) #2 Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma) vs Tyshawn White (Shippensburg) I am picking two different early-round upsets at the weight. Evan Carrigan (Newberry) has already beaten Christian Mejia & a first-round matchup between the two could send the fourth seed to the consolation side early. That would create a match between two unseeded wrestlers in Carrigan & Dawson Collins. I mentioned Collins earlier because he is a young man who has played the role of spoiler well this season and he has already blown up one impressive bracket with his showing at the Midwest Classic. I am picking Tyshawn White (Shippensburg) to mess up seeding on the bottom half, because I think he poses a real style challenge to the seventh-seed Joe Arroyo. The best quarterfinal on paper is Paxton Creese taking on Josh Portillo. The two met at National Duals with the repeat freshman Creese earning a 5-3 victory. Portillo is a #SuperSenior looking to bounce back from a very disappointing tournament in 2021. This is the type of match that cements a legacy in a program, with every fiber of my being I want to pick him to win this match. But I just have a feeling that Creese has learned enough from his first freshman season to avoid the type of mistakes that would see him give up big points from his feet or bottom. The places that Portillo likes to feast. I do think that Paxton Rosen is going to have his hands full with either Joe Arroyo or Tyshawn White. They are both such technically sound on their feet that Rosen could find himself in a 3-2 match and any time the score is decided by the first takedown, anything can happen. Semifinals Cole Laya (West Liberty) vs Dawson Collins (Mesa) Paxton Creese (St Cloud State) vs Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma) I could see this weight class only sending one of the top four seeds into the semifinals, that is how thin the margin for error is. Cole Laya has lost just once at the national tournament in two appearances. He is the best wrestler at this weight class until someone proves me wrong on the biggest stage. I really want to see this other semifinal because, how often do two Paxtons meet in a national tournament semifinal match? There can be only one! I am looking for a Highlander situation where the loser of this match has to change their name. Here's the thing, Rosen could face Arroyo who has beaten him in the quarterfinals. Or he could face the very good Tyshawn White. This side of the bracket is just so deep. We could see Creese fall to Portillo in the quarters. This is going to be me making the pick because of what I am looking at now, not trying to hedge my bet and get the most finalists right. I am going with the older, more battle-tested Paxton and picking Rosen. Finals Cole Laya (West Liberty) vs Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma) Cole Laya is very, very good. His only loss at the national tournament was in 2019 to eventual national champion Carlos Jacquez. I would have loved to see him in 2020 take on one of the best fields at any weight, thanks a lot Covid. In 2021 he went, Decision-Fall-Major Decision, to win his first title. I do not care who they put across from him in the finals, Danny Irwin may be the best coach in the country at making sure his top athletes' peak. Paxton Rosen will have earned the right to be in the finals if he makes it. That side of the bracket is just one land mine after another. He will earn the Brochos some much-needed points, but running into Laya just makes for a bad Saturday night. 1st Cole Laya - West Liberty University 2nd Paxton Rosen - University of Central Oklahoma 3rd Paxton Creese - St. Cloud State University 4th Dawson Collins - University of Colorado Mesa 5th Joe Arroyo - University of Wisconsin Parkside 6th Tyshawn White - Shippensburg University 7th Josh Portillo - University of Nebraska Kearney 8th Evan Carrigan - Newberry College 133 I honestly feel that the committee did itself a disservice by not making certain that Wesley Dawkins (Nebraska Kearney) and Jon Andreatta (Adams State) were not placed on the same side of the bracket. We missed our chance to see their grudge match in the SRVI finals after an MFF by Andreatta propelled Dawkins to the title. These two fan bases do not like each other and these two athletes seem to care for each other even less than that. They also happen to be two of the most exciting wrestlers at any weight. This weight class is bound to have some “upsets” brought about by the draw and seeding. It seems like the committee put a lot of weight on the performance at the Midwest Classic, and why not? Athletes that have won the MWC have historically done very well at the national tournament. Metzgar defeated fellow national qualifiers Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst), Tanner Hitchcock (Lindenwood), and Reece Barnhardt (Mary) there. His season from then on though was an 11-4 campaign that saw his best win as the replacement for Patrick Allis at Western Colorado, Alex Alvarez. Majid Corbit (Limestone) is undefeated and a Super Regional II champion, he is unseeded. Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst) has an almost as impressive body of work and finished higher in his Super Regional than Metzgar did in his. Garrett Vos (St. Cloud State) also finished third in his Super Regional and still managed to earn a seventh-seed. Vos has won over national qualifiers Corey Gamet (Lake Erie), Elijah Lusk (Lander), and the fifth-seed Reece Barnhardt (Mary). The freshman Marauder did avenge that loss in the Super Regional V tournament though, he sent the returning national finalist to the consolation side. I kind of feel like they did not know what to do with the one-loss Collin Wickramaratna (Kutztown). He avenged his regular-season loss to Eric Bartos in the SRI finals, but his only other quality win is over Devin Flannery. He earned the sixth seed but opens his tournament against undefeated Corbit with the three-seed Jack Huffman (Augustana) looming. Huffman is another wrestler that seemed to be seeded due to some transitive properties, his two wins over Barnhardt highlighted his season results, and Barnhardt's big wins seemed to equal a jump in the seeding for Huffman. Huffman and Barnhardt are going to do damage and if Garrett Vos can bounce back, three podium spots should belong to the SRV crew. I am a little surprised that Tanner Cole (Central Oklahoma) earned the top-seed over Dawkins, but the junior is undefeated with wins over Andreatta, Metzgar, and Tanner Hitchcock (Lindenwood). The 2021 7th-place All-American Hitchcock is unseeded and opens the tournament against Vos in bout number three. Do not be late getting into the arena. Quarterfinals #1 Tanner Cole (Central Oklahoma) vs #8 Collin Metzgar (Colorado Mesa) #5 Reece Barnhardt (Mary) vs #4 Jon Andreatta (Adams State) #3 Jack Huffman (Augustana) vs #6 Collin Wickramaratna (Kutztown) #7 Garrett Vos (St. Cloud State) vs #2 Wesley Dawkins (Kearney) The quarterfinal from the very bottom of this bracket is going to be huge for the team race, the winner between Garrett Vos and Wesley Dawkins will immediately earn All-American finish points for their program and give their team an early boost. I expect Tanner Cole to roll for Central Oklahoma, which puts a lot of pressure on the likes of St. Cloud State and Nebraska Kearney. The four vs five and three vs six battles both feel like toss-ups to me. I know that seems weird, especially in the match between Jack Huffman and Collin Wickramaratna, but this bracket seems poised to get crazy at the quarters. Reece Barnhardt pinned Jon Andreatta at the Midwest Classic and now he gets the chance to show that was not just freshman luck. He is very capable of pulling the “upset” again. I am not sure why I am not as high on Huffman as the seeding committee, but I have reservations. It is not like Wickramaratna has a much flashier resume, it is just the eye test. I hope he passes it on Friday evening. Semifinals Tanner Cole (Central Oklahoma) vs Jon Andreatta (Adams State) Jack Huffman (Augustana) vs Wesley Dawkins (Kearney) We may never see Garrett Vos take on Jack Huffman and that makes me sad. Augustana forfeited the weight in their dual despite having Brandon Carroll, who beat Vos early in the season, and Huffman on the roster. What we will get to see is Huffman take on two-time All-American and four-time national qualifier Wesley Dawkins. Nebraska Kearney fell a point and a half short of a team title in 2021; it stung. I think we are going to see the best effort the Lopers have at every weight. In the top-side battle, Tanner Cole takes on the dangerous Jon Andreatta. I am going to pick Cole because of his style of wrestling, it is just so fundamentally sound that I think he will frustrate Andreatta and create a mistake that he can take advantage of. I could be wrong though and Andreatta could toss him on his head. Finals Tanner Cole (Central Oklahoma) vs Wesley Dawkins (Kearney) Wesley Dawkins and Tanner Cole will find themselves the focus of much of the arena when they meet in the finals. If the team race is still up for grabs, which it probably will be, the winner of this match could secure the trophy for their program and end St. Cloud State's reign. It will also be a rematch of the 2021 consolation finals that Tanner Cole won 12-7. That loss has to have stung looking at the point differential that separated Kearney from the trophy last year. I expect that there has been a freshman tasked with whispering in Dawkins ear at every meal, “remember the Bronchos .”Hopefully, it works out better for him than it did for the Persians. 1st Wesley Dawkins - the University of Nebraska Kearney 2nd Tanner Cole - University of Central Oklahoma 3rd Garrett Vos - St. Cloud State University 4th Jack Huffman - Augustana University 5th Reece Barnhardt - University of Mary 6th Jon Andreatta - Adams State University 7th Eric Bartos - Mercyhurst University 8th Collin Metzgar - University of Colorado Mesa 141 If you want to see coaches argue and agree at the same time, ask the eighteen coaches how they feel about the seeding of this weight class. There are going to be some very upset program leaders and some very happy ones as well. A, for example, would be Keaton Schorr (Augustana), who was 5-6 at 149lbs before starting for the Vikings at the SRV tournament and making the finals. His best win is over fellow qualifier Tate Murty (Upper Iowa). Caleb Morris (Pitt-Johnstown) and Alexis Soriano (Mercyhurst) both have better season resumes. Unseeded, two-time national champion Tyler Warner has at least as impressive a resume this season, and given his history, deserves to be ahead of him. Morris, Soriano, and Warner's coaches have to be wondering how this happened. More than that, Schorr also got a great draw that should see him advance at least to the quarters. If you are Colby Smith (Lindenwood) or Nick James (Kearney), you have to look at your first match and feel like your path to a national championship is going to be a difficult one right away. Smith drew the 2019 All-American Soriano, while James hits the landmine that is Tyler Warner right away. Even the second-seed Branson Proudlock has to be on upset alert as he takes on Tate Murty (Upper Iowa) right away. Proudlock has been nearly perfect this season, including a Midwest Classic crown. But all it takes is one mistake at the national tournament to go from finalists to 0-2. There will be seeded wrestlers going down at this weight, I guarantee it and everyone should be on upset alert. Quarterfinals #1 Joe Bianchini (St Cloud State) vs #8 Keaton Schorr (Augustana) #5 Christian Small (Kind) vs #4 Zeth Brower (Lander) #3 Colby Smith (Lindenwood) vs Tyler Warner (West Liberty) #7 Peter Kuster (Drury) vs #2 Branson Proudlock (Findlay) I want to voice a complaint right away about this weight class, why are Christian Small and Zeth Brower on a collision course in the quarterfinals? I hate to see this matchup because I feel like after Joe Bianchini, this weight class could have been seeded in so many different ways. Colby Smith as a two seed with Branson Prouldock three could have been switched. Heck, Zeth Brower could be the three if you are going to put that much weight on his win over Small in the SRII finals. I also think that Keaton Schorr and Bianchini meeting in the quarterfinals is another head-scratcher. Why are we running those Super Regional finals again? I do not expect the results to change for either of these matches. The ones to watch will be Colby Smith taking on Tyler Warner and Peter Kuster battling Branson Proudlock. The Kuster match could be one of those sneaky upset specials. Proudlock only has the one loss to Soriano this season and Kuster is very similar. He also has some big wins on his resume. Can Tyler Warner pull a second upset in a row to make the semifinals? Sure. But he will have to be perfect against Colby Smith. Smith took losses to Kuster and Proudlock and then after the Midwest Classic never looked back. Warner has a loss to the Findlay wrestler as well so this match comes down to really, how much of a 141 Warner is. Colby Smith is full-sized and battle-tested at this weight. That could be the difference despite the incredible record of success that Warner has at this tournament. Semifinals Joe Bianchini (St. Cloud State) vs Zeth Brower (Lander) Colby Smith (Lindenwood) vs Branson Proudlock (Findlay) As badly as I want to predict anarchy at this weight, I think that most of it will occur on the backside of this bracket. Joe Bianchini has a clear path to the finals and St. Cloud State needs him to deliver a title to help them build for their team race. Zeth Brower will make history for his program if he makes the semifinals as their first All-American. But he will run into the buzzsaw that is Bianchini. He has scored bonus points in 13 of his 17 wins against Division II foes. Colby Smith versus Branson Proudlock is a rematch from the Midwest Classic that Proudlock won 4-1. If the first semifinal is favored one way, this one is a toss-up. I will probably just flip a coin. Finals Joe Bianchini (St. Cloud State) vs Colby Smith (Lindenwood) A one seed versus a three seed is probably not a great surprise. But when we look back at this tournament bracket in a couple of seasons, I think we will see how impressive a run it was for these two athletes. I already spoke about how big of a weight class this is for St. Cloud State and even more than that, it is important for Bianchini to put a finals loss from 2021 in his rearview mirror. Colby Smith had his designs on a national title in 2021 and his third-place finish has to have been in his mind for the last 365 days. A narrow loss to eventual national champion Isiah Royal (Newberry) kept him from that career goal and now he has a chance at redemption. I worry that whoever comes out of this side of the bracket will have had to leave too much on the mat making the finals to have anything left in the tank. And you do not want to wrestle Bianichini with anything less than a full tank of premium gasoline. 1st Joe Bianichini - St. Cloud State University 2nd Colby Smith - Lindenwood University 3rd Tyler Warner - West Liberty University 4th Branson Proudlock - Findlay University 5th Zeth Brower - Lander University 6th Christian Small - King University 7th Peter Kuster - Drury University 8th Caleb Morris - University of Pittsburgh Johnstown 149 I do not hate the seeding at this weight, but having Dom Means (Gannon) as an unseeded wrestler creates a heck of a landmine at this weight. It may be a good thing that the three seed Noah Hermosillo has a first-round match to get warmed up, because he is not going to want to go into that matchup cold. 2021 141 lb national champion Isiah Royal (Newberry) will need to be ready right away himself, the one-seed draws the very tough sophomore from Northern State, Wyatt Turnquist. He has four wins over national qualifiers, including a regular-season win over Nick Novak (St. Cloud State). Novak rode the momentum of a Super Regional V crown to a seventh-seed at the tournament, and the true freshman will look to start writing his own history at the storied program during his first trip to the national tournament. The best story in college wrestling right now is Darick Lapaglia (Central Missouri), not only is he part of the resurgence of his program but he is also back in the national tournament eight years after earning All-American honors as a freshman for Maryville University. Craig Cook (Davis & Elkins) beat 2021 national champion Lukas Martin (Fairmont State) in his first match of the season, seemingly sending him into retirement. He capped the year off with a Super Regional III crown and now he needs to be on upset alert as he takes on the bigger of the #BaileyBros in round one. Logan Bailey (Indianapolis) has picked up big wins in his two years in the Hounds lineup and is a must-watch whenever he takes the mat. With West Liberty, Nebraska Kearney, and St. Cloud State all having wrestlers at this weight, Central Oklahoma will be hoping for big points from the two-seed Brik Filippo. He could carve a path right through West Liberty and St. Cloud State on his way to make the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Sam Turner (Nebraska Kearney) has a chance to advance through the quarters if he can find a way to beat Jacob Ealy (Pitt-Johnstown). I honestly think he could be a national finalist and from his fourth seed, his path seems very realistic. Quarterfinals #1 Isiah Royal (Newberry) vs Jason Hanenberg (Western Colorado) #5 Sam Turner (Kearney) vs #4 Jacob Ealy (Pitt-Johnstown) #3 Noah Hermosillo (Adams State) vs Logan Bailey (Indianapolis) #7 Nick Novak (St. Cloud State) vs #2 Brik Filippo (Central Oklahoma) In his last two trips to the national tournament where we had wrestling, Isaiah Royal has been a finalist both times. In 2021, he won the 141 crown over Joe Bianchini (St. Cloud State). It very nearly spoiled the Huskies' day and a chance at a national championship. He is going to make the finals again and while I expect Jason Hanenberg to cause a ruckus early, Royal is not one to relinquish the crown so easily. I think the best match of the quarters will be when Sam Turner takes on Jacob Ealy. Turner was the number one wrestler in the country, until his loss to Brik Filippo and to Noah Hermosillo at the SRVI tournament dropped him to the fifth seed at this weight. This hurt the Lopers because now he must face off against the surging Ealy who has gotten even better as the season has progressed. Noah Hermosillo looks to be on a mission and that means Logan Bailey is on the wrong railroad track. Nick Novak could boost the St. Cloud chances with a big upset of Brik Filippo, but I think the true freshman may find that he is running into a seasoned vet who has been here before. Semifinals Isiah Royal (Newberry) vs Jacob Ealy (Pitt-Johnstown) Noah Hermosillo (Adams State) vs Brik Filippo (Central Oklahoma) Isiah Royal will enter the national tournament without having really been tested, he wrestled such an abbreviated schedule in 2022 that you have to wonder if he is totally back. I do not think it matters, he has shown that he knows what he has to do to get it done at the national tournament, and woe to those who try to usurp the Royal crown. Jacob Ealy will be trying to do just that though. He is a seasoned veteran in his own right and the returning All-American is looking to make a big jump from his eighth-place finish a year ago. The repeat sophomore is going to find himself on the consolation side once again, but by making the semifinals he will guarantee himself a higher finish. The Noah Hermosillo versus Brik Filippo semifinals will have all kinds of storylines riding on it. The largest will be the team race factor. If the Central Oklahoma junior is the only athlete from the big four to make the finals at this weight and in doing so could hand head coach Todd Steidley a team trophy. The only wrestler to beat Hermosillo this season is Dom Means and guess what, he will not be wrestling Dom Means in this semifinal. Hermosillo is now a four-time national qualifier and seems a lock to improve upon his sixth-place finish from 2021. Finals Isiah Royal (Newberry) vs Noah Hermosillo (Adam State) You can call me crazy, but I think this is the finals match we see for no other reason than it is the one I want. If this is how the seeds and draws are going to be, then this is the finals match I want to watch. These two wrestlers are so good at what they do. Isiah Royal is smooth on his feet and puts a tough enough ride on even the best wrestlers that it shortens the match. Noah Hermosillo is a score from anywhere wrestler and that includes all three positions. It is not so much a battle of styles as a battle of wills. Which athlete can fully impose their will upon their opponent? There will be no team race implications here, just a matter of two guys who can go out there knowing that this is their last college match and they have nothing to lose. 1st Noah Hermosillo - Adams State University 2nd Isiah Royal - Newberry College 3rd Jacob Ealy - University of Pittsburgh Johnstown 4th Brik Filippo - University of Central Oklahoma 5th Dom Means - Gannon University 6th Nick Novak - St. Cloud State University 7th Logan Bailey - University of Indianapolis 8th Darick Lapaglia - Central Missouri University 157 This entire weight class was turned on its head when Chance Esmont (Ashland) upset returning national champion James Wimer at the SRIII tournament. Esmont went on to win the championships while Wimer missed the national tournament. Anthony Herrera (St. Cloud State) jumped John Ridle (Central Missouri) to earn the top-seed at the weight. A loss in the SRVI finals after an injury default kept Josiah Rider (Adams State) from earning the top spot as well. JoJo Gonzalez (American International) was able to navigate a very tough Super Regional I tournament and earn the fourth seed. Ty Lucas (Central Oklahoma) will have to carry the hopes of the Bronchos national tournament title and he has a very good chance to finish about his seed. The biggest surprise qualifier for me at this weight is Patrick “the Wonder Boy” Wunderlich (Coker) who battled back in SRII to finish third. He comes into the tournament at 68 in the D2Wrestlestat rankings. Dallas Boone (King) enters the tournament on a nine-match win streak and momentum can mean everything. That is why it is important to keep an eye on how Esmont starts off his tournament. If you want a real wildcard at the weight, Braydon Huber is one of the most explosive wrestlers at any weight and every time he steps on the mat there is the chance to see a big move. There is a lot of balance at this weight and there are probably six or seven wrestlers who could end up with the national title. Quarterfinals #1 Anthony Herrera (St. Cloud State) vs #8 Braydon Huber (Mary) #5 Ty Lucas (Central Oklahoma) vs #4 JoJo Gonzalez (American International) #3 Josiah Rider (Adams State)vs Nick Young (Gannon) #2 John Ridle (Central Missouri) vs #7 Dawson Combest (Indianapolis) The top half of this bracket should probably wrestle to seed. This is important because it sets up the possibility of a Central Oklahoma versus St. Cloud State semifinal. For that to happen, Anthony Herrera just needs to defeat the always dangerous Braydon Huber again. They met very early in the season and Herrera won that battle 6-3 at the prestigious Finn Grinaker Cobber Open. Then, Ty Lucas will need to “upset” 2021 All-American JoJo Gonzalez. These two had a chance to meet at the Midwest Classic, but it did not happen. Gonzalez can go from zero to 60 faster than a Formula 1 racer and when he puts the pedal down is nearly unstoppable. He is a matchup nightmare for anyone. In a shoot-out, he can wrestle with the best in the country, and now as an All-American, he can wrestle without the pressure. Nick Young (Gannon) is two upsets away from being an All-American. An early win over Ryan Wheeler will put him just one away. Josiah Rider was the number one seed in the tournament before an injury default in the SRVI finals had him fall to the third. If he is healthy, he is a great finals bet. Dawson Combest and John Ridle is an SRIV battle and somehow will be the first meeting between these two. I know, it is really hard to believe that they have never wrestled each other. They are both sophomores so we should get to see this a few more times. Semifinals Anthony Herrera (St Cloud State) vs JoJo Gonzalez (American International) Josiah Rider (Adams State) vs John Ridle (Central Missouri) St. Cloud State needs to win this match, it is the chance for them to score points while Nebraska Kearney and West Liberty miss out. More than that, if Tyler Lucas does not make the semifinals they can stay ahead of Central Oklahoma at this weight as well. Anthony and JoJo Gonzalez have not met and there is no time that they would have matched up. On paper, this should be all Herrera, but not so fast my friend. Herrera wins a lot of matches, but he has done it without scoring big points. The redshirt sophomore has a decorated junior college career on his resume, but that is not the NCAA Division II national tournament. Everybody has a plan until they get hit in the face and I expect Gonzalez to come out swinging hard. On the other side, it is a battle between a couple of young wrestlers. Josiah Rider is a redshirt sophomore as well and he will take on the sophomore John Ridle in what could be the start of an awesome rivalry. Again, I worry about the health of Rider, anything less than 100%, and Ridle is going to be an NCAA finalist as a sophomore. Finals JoJo Gonzalez (American International) vs John Ridle (Central Missouri) I could be way off on this prediction and it is just as likely that we see a battle between the redshirt sophomores Josiah Rider and Anthony Herrera, but I am going with my almost always wrong gut though and picking one of my favorite wrestlers at any weight and a young man who is part of the renaissance happening at Central Missouri under interim head coach John Feeney. The Mules had two national qualifiers and Ridle won their first Super Regional championship since 2015. If the “interim” does not disappear from before Feeney's name, there is something seriously wrong in that athletic department. Gonzalez has been very good for the last three seasons and after being locked out of the tournament in 2020, he made the podium in 2021. I can see him finishing his career with the title, the first finalist for the Yellowjackets since 2000. 1st JoJo Gonzalez - American International University 2nd John Ridle - Central Missouri University 3rd Anthony Herrera - St. Cloud State University 4th Ty Lucas - Central Oklahoma University 5th Dawson Combest - the University of Indianapolis 6th Josiah Rider - Adams State University 7th Braydon Huber - University of Mary 8th Chance Esmont - Ashland University 165 When Alex Faranchek (Gannon) succumbed to a knee injury late in the season, this weight class appeared to be a one-horse race. 2019 national champion and three-time All-American Matt Malcom is back in his fifth national tournament and against anyone not named Fred Green has seemed unstoppable the last three seasons. If there is going to be a challenger though to his attempt to ride off into the sunset a champion, it may come from the redshirt junior from Wisconsin Parkside, Shane Gantz. He is undefeated this season and the Midwest Classic champion. John Dean (Belmont Abbey) will be on the same side of the bracket as Gantz, and the junior wrestled the Super Regional tournament back at 165 after spending part of the second semester at 157. A :20 pin by James Burks (Northern State) is the only blemish on his Division II record this season, and other than that total anomaly he has been perfect. If there is going to be a wrestler to stop him it will almost certainly have to be one of those two. The fourth and fifth seed on Malcom's side includes the surging Jack Eiteljorge (Indianapolis) and undefeated in #D2Wrestle competition Dillon Keane (Pitt Johnstown). Even after his SRIV crown, Eitejorge is a surprise four seed. He has seven losses on his D2 season including to wrestlers who unseeded in this tournament or did not qualify. I thought he was a six or maybe seven seed, but now he has all the pressure of someone expected to make the semifinals. Talon Seitz (Newberry) got into the tournament and the former Loper gets the first crack at his old teammate Matt Malcom in the first round. He is back in the Carolinas and now he is a national qualifier. I wonder if James Penfold's (Lake Erie) MFF in the SRIII finals caused him to fall down the seeds, but at the seventh, he has a path to the quarters. He took an injury default against a teammate during the Storm Open and other than that would be undefeated. Eight of his 12 wins in D2 are by fall, those are some video game-type results. Corey Peterson (McKendree) finished fourth in 2021, but this year was the last wrestler out of SRIV. This weight has clear favorites and then wrestlers who should be All-Americans, the question is who will mess this all up. Quarterfinals #1 Matt Malcom (Kearney) vs #8 Nate Trepanier (Lindenwood) #5 Dillon Keane (Pitt-Johnstown) vs #4 Jack Eiteljorge (Indianapolis) #3 John Dean (Belmont Abbey) vs #6 Corey Peterson (McKendree) #2 Shane Gantz (UW Parkside) vs #7 James Penfold (Lake Erie) Nate Trepanier was looking great in #SRIV headed into the tournament and seemed ready for a rematch against Corey Peterson in the finals. Along came Jack Eiteljorge and a top-six seed turned into the eighth and a quarterfinal match against Matt Malcom. These are both seasoned veterans with plenty of experience, but one of them has the accolades and has proven he can perform when it counts. Jack Eiteljorge will have a chance to prove the doubters wrong right away, as he will battle Dillon Keane, the redshirt freshman who has made a big jump in his third year in the Johnstown room. Then we have a sneaky matchup between John Dean and Corey Peterson. They finished fourth and fifth in 2021 with Peterson picking up a win in their head-to-head meeting in St Louis. Can he do it again? The last quarterfinal could have been a battle of undefeated, but that teammate loss has Penfold sitting on the one. Regardless, after this match, he will have a second. Gantz has looked like a monster this season just going out and winning match after match. Semifinals Matt Malcom (Nebraska Kearney) vs Dillon Keane (Pitt Johnstown) Corey Peterson (McKendree) vs Shane Gantz (UW Parkside) I feel bad for anyone standing in the way of Matt Malcom making the finals. He has a 75% bonus rate this season and that is against all competition, not just Division II. When you factor in just matches against Division II wrestlers, it is an astounding 85%. I think that Dillon Keane can pull the upset in the quarterfinals to become an All-American, but he will have to do the rest of his work in the consolation rounds. Much like Kean, Corey Peterson can pull that quarterfinal upset. But like Kean, he will run into a buzzsaw in the next round. Gantz has scored bonus points himself in 12 of his 17 matches against Division II. He seems on a collision course with Malcom in the 165 finals. Finals Matt Malcom (Nebraska Kearney) vs Shane Gantz (UW Parkside) This is the final I want to see and I believe it is the one we deserve to see. These two athletes have been the best at the weight this year and they will put on a show in St Louis. One of these two #SuperSeniors will walk away into retirement as a national champion and the other will just walk away. I mean with an All-American finish, so it is not like they will leave empty-handed. In a match that turns into a scoring fest, Matt Malcom will have the advantage. He will also have the most pressure as his winning a title boosts his team's chances at the trophy. If this match stays close, Shane Gantz has more than enough offense to find that final takedown. He has a heck of a coach in his final who just happens to know a thing or two about winning Division II national titles. Even if his brother tried to run me over with a scooter last year. 1st Matt Malcom - University of Nebraska Kearney 2nd Shane Gantz - University of Wisconsin Parkside 3rd Corey Peterson - McKendree University 4th John Dean - Belmont Abbey College 5th Nate Trepanier - Lindenwood University 6th Dillon Keane - University of Pittsburgh Johnstown 7th John Penfold - Lake Erie University 8th Jack Eiteljorge - University of Indianapolis 174 The University of Nebraska Kearney did a bit of a weight class shuffle late in the season and Austin Eldredge moved down from 184 to start at the 174 class. He has won all 11 of his matches at the weight by tech fall, I feel like I'm telling a lie typing that. He has wrestled 11 matches at 174 and he has won every one of those matches by tech fall. If you want to be even more impressed, he has only allowed a total of nine points in those 11 matches. He has found a #D2Wrestle cheat code. New Mexico Highland University may have taken longer than any team in the country to update their roster, hopefully, they get a jump on 2023 and add “national qualifier” to the bio of Allen Michel. The senior almost won more matches in 2022 than he did his first three seasons wrestling for New Mexico Highlands. Hunter DeLong won 37 matches this season and this is his reward? He faces the third seed Andrew Sams (Indianapolis) in the first round. Sams is a very solid three-seed and a semifinal matchup with Cade Mueller (Augustana) is looking likely. Mueller just won the #SRV crown after beating Trevor Turriff (MSU Mankato) and the Viking could be the first Augustana finalists since 2019. I spoke about Caleb Spears in my “dark horse” article, if Dan Beemer (Ashland) is still injured then he could be a quarterfinalist very quickly. Heck, Beemer needs to be on upset alert as he takes on Dillon Walker (Mercyhurst). The freshman has come into Division II ready to wrestle and is a terrible draw for anyone who is not 100%. Job Ayala (UW Parkside) wrestled matches at 197 last season, he either cut off a leg or sold his soul to the devil to make 174. Either way, he is a national qualifier and a very serious All-American threat from the eighth seed. West Liberty's Ty McGeary is on Eldredge's side of the bracket and if they match up it will impact the team race. Central Oklahoma has Alex Kauffman facing Mueller in the first round, so the junior JUCO college All-American may need to do some work on the consolation side to feed the Bronchos title hopes. This is a big weight because those three teams can all make up ground or possibly build leads while St. Cloud State is without a point scorer. Just a note, 2021 fourth-place finisher Josh Jones (McKendree), is unseeded. So is two-time All-American Brock Biddle (Pitt-Johnstown), it goes to show the committee is looking for what you did this season. Quarterfinals #1 Austin Eldredge (Nebraska Kearney) vs #8 Job Ayala (UW Parkside) #5 Ty McGeary (West Liberty) vs #4 Trevor Turiff (MSU Mankato) #3 Andrew Sams (Indianapolis) vs Caleb Spears (Newberry) Josh Jones (McKendree) vs #2 Cade Mueller (Augustana) I fully expect the tech fall run to continue for Austin Eldredge at the national tournament. This means that Job Ayala is going to have his hands full with the hottest wrestler in Division II at the worst possible time. The Parkside Ranger is going to have to win a match on the consolation side if he wants to be an All-American. In what is a tiny bit of an upset, I think that Ty McGeary gets it done against Trevor Turiff in the quarters. The Hilltopper only has a loss to Dan Beemer on his record and he did not get the chance to avenge that in the SRIII finals. Turiff was a national finalist in 2021, but this season has been tougher with the addition of Cade Mueller to the weight class and it puts him on a much tougher path to return to the stage. Andrew Sams is firing on all cylinders at the right time and the Greyhound is going to be a very tough matchup for Cade Mueller in the semifinals. Josh Jones is now a three-time national qualifier, he knows what it takes to win big matches, but he is wrestling a man who is fully prepared for the national tournament. Semifinals Austin Eldredge (Nebraska Kearney) vs Ty McGeary (West Liberty) Andrew Sams (Indianapolis) vs Cade Mueller (Augustana) If the streak is still alive for Eldredge, this is where it stops. He is not going to come out and just steamroll Ty McGeary off the mat. He will still probably beat him and it could possibly even be a major decision, but it will not be a match termination. West Liberty arrives at the national tournament ready to wrestle and that is a good thing. When that whistle blows, Eldredge is going to be coming forward looking to score. The match between Andrew Sams and Cade Mueller is going to come down to the first takedown. The matches that Sams has lost this season have all seemed to happen when he allows his opponents to score first. In low-scoring matches or when he has the lead to build on, Sams can shut them down. Cade Mueller can score but can let high-level competitors hang around. Someone is going to get that first takedown and whoever does is going to win. Finals Austin Eldredge (Nebraska Kearney) vs Cade Mueller (Augustana) I just do not know how you could pick against Austin Eldredge, unless you are an Augustana fan, or possibly a St. Cloud State one. You know that they and Central Oklahoma will be cheering for Cade Mueller in this match. If the Lopers can get two finalists, that would be two more than they had when they fell short in 2021. Matt Malcom seems to be one, and Austin Eldredge could be number two. Cade Mueller will be looking to be the first Augustana national champion since 2010. 1st Austin Eldredge - University of Nebraska Kearney 2nd Cade Mueller - Augustana University 3rd Andrew Sams - University of Indianapolis 4th Ty McGeary - West Liberty University 5th Alex Kauffman - University of Central Oklahoma 6th Brock Biddle - University of Pittsburg Johnstown 7th Trevor Turiff - Minnesota State University Mankato 8th Josh Jones - McKendree University 184 Coming into the 2021 season, I do not think that was the only person following Division II wrestling who thought this weight class wasn't Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) and then everyone else. Billy Higgins (Kearney) has entered the lobby. He ended Gray's 50-plus match win streak, knocked him to the second seed despite being the returning national champion, and set up a possible semifinal match with huge team race ramifications. This is another weight without a St. Cloud State wrestler, so the points that West Liberty, Central Oklahoma, and Nebraska Kearney all earn here are huge. It just so happens that those three teams all have top three seeded athletes. 2019 national champion and 2021 runner-up Connor Craig (West Liberty) sits atop the bracket. Caden Steffen (Southwest State) was a bit of a surprise All-American last season, although given his lineage he should not have been. This season he is not sneaking up on anyone and as the fifth-seed will have expectations to shoulder. 2021 All-American Noah Curreri made history for Queens as their first All-American in program history, if he wants to add to that total he will do so starting unseeded. He also draws returning All-American Dan Filipek (McKendree) right out of the gate. Martin Verhaeghe (Fort Hays State) has won well over 100 matches in his career, it will take at minimum three more for him to become a first-time All-American, before he graduates this spring. He needs to be on upset alert as he will face Kutztown's, Matt Weinberg. Kutztown has Weinberg listed as a freshman but some results from the Penn State Wrestling Club list him as a sophomore. Whatever class he is, he's dang good. Cole Houser lost his program at Urbana and then helped to build Glenville State into a surprise sophomore contender. He earned a spot at his first national tournament to be part of his new program's history. Heath Gray is good. If he had not lost that squeaker to Higgins, this weight class would write itself. Quarterfinals #1 Connor Craig (West Liberty) vs Logan Hall (Notre Dame) #5 Caden Steffen (Southwest State) vs #4 Dan Filipek (McKendree) #3 Billy Higgins (Nebraska Kearney) vs Matt Weinberg (Kutztown) #7 Anderson Salisbury (Colorado Mines) vs #2 Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) West Liberty needs wins, but they also need them to include bonus points. I am not sure they can match their three finalists from 2021, but if they cannot they need to add bonus points to every win. Connor Craig can turn it on and he needs to do so against a familiar foe in Logan Hall. Caden Steffen will have the chance to join his father, Link Steffen, in Southwest Minnesota State program history as a semifinalist. Last season, Jackson Ryan accomplished the feat, and imagine what it would be like for Steffen to do the same. In 2021, Dan Filipek had the fastest pin of the tournament against Steffen in :17, I expect this go-around to be a much different match. The four-time national qualifier has the experience on Steffen, but the gap has closed in 2022 between these two. Against anyone not named Billy Higgins in the last three seasons, Heath Gray has walked away with a Division II victory. He is not wrestling Higgins in the quarterfinals, so I expect history to hold. Anderson Salisbury (Colorado Mines) will need to win one more match on the backside to become a two-time All-American. What I expect to be a very good match will be Billy Higgins taking on the unseeded and upset-minded Matt Weinberg. We all want to see the rematch between Higgins and Gray, but the Loper will have to make it that far for us to get what we want. Semifinals Connor Craig (West Liberty) vs Dan Filipek (McKendree) Billy Higgins (Nebraska Kearney) vs Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) I am not certain the last time that Heath Gray walked out on a mat with the expectations that he will be carrying during his semifinal battle. He has fallen short of the finals once before in this round and this time, as a senior trying to win an individual and team title I wonder how heavy that burden must be. Billy Higgins wants to help his team win a trophy and earn his own crown, but this will not be his last trip to the championship. A tight Heath Gray and a loose confident Billy Higgins could spell doom for the Bronchos. Then again, this is Heath Gray and we all know this is the match he wants. Connor Craig has never wrestled in the NCAA tournament and has not been a national finalist. He wants to be a national champion again and only one more win stands between him and a chance at revenge against Gray. Dan Filipek is good, but much like Gray, Connor Craig is on a different level. Three of the top-four seeds at this weight will graduate after the 2022 season, that is just crazy. Finals Connor Craig (West Liberty) vs Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) Wrestling is all about adjustments. I believe that Heath Gray will make them in his rematch against Billy Higgins and I know that Connor Craig will make them when he faces off against Gray again. The match was a 3-2 win for Gray in 2021 and it kept West Liberty from finishing third in the team race. I remember talking with him and his teammates after the tournament and you could already see the hunger in his eyes. It is very easy to switch those types of results between two top-tier athletes and while Gray needs to be thinking about Higgins, Connor Craig is already focused on what he needs to do to beat Gray. 1st Connor Craig - West Liberty University 2nd Heath Gray - University of Central Oklahoma 3rd Billy Higgins - University of Nebraska Kearney 4th Dan Filipek - McKendree University 5th Martin Verhaeghe - Fort Hays State University 6th Matt Weinberg - Kutztown University 7th Anderson Salisbury - Colorado School of Mines 8th Logan Hall - Notre Dame College 197 We could wrestle this bracket 100 times and we would probably see 100 different top eights, and that is just a guess because I do not remember how to do the math of probabilities like that. I just mean to say that this weight is poised on the razor's edge of anarchy and, as an agent of chaos, I am always happy to advocate for that. We could see upsets right away out of Walker Uhl (Ashland) and Logan Kemp (West Liberty). They are both very dangerous unseeded wrestlers who have landed in the bracket in a great place to cause havoc. Logan Kemp is a national qualifier again, but for West Liberty to challenge for a team trophy they need him to finally break through and become an All-American. St. Cloud State will have the two-seed Noah Ryan, the returning All-American could make a run to the finals. Central Oklahoma has its own firepower here in returning national finalist Dalton Abney. One of the strongest, smoothest, most dominating wrestlers in the country will have a shot at putting away the team trophy race if he can win it all. The Lopers will have the sixth seed in Hayden Prince. Prince has lost to four of the national qualifiers, but two of those were to Abney and Ryan. A bracket-buster would benefit West Liberty the most here. Alderson Broaddus is still looking for the first All-American in program history, and Gino Sita has been close before. In 2019, he lost in the blood round, falling just short of standing on the podium. Darius Parker (Lander) has his name in the Lander history books, and he can add to it by becoming the first All-American for head coach RC LaHaye. Brian Kennerly (Kutztown) is a tough wrestler to grade, he enters as the fourth-seed after winning SRI but without the history in #D2Wrestle, it is hard to know just how good he is. I know he is good, but is he making a run to the finals good? To do so he will have to get through 2019 national champion Nicholas Mason (Tiffin). The Dragon is up to his old tricks again after blowing through the #SRIII regional tournament. He seems poised to put the 0-2 2021 national tournament in his rearview mirror and end his career as an All-American. Quarterfinals #1 Dalton Abney (Central Oklahoma) vs #8 Gino Sita (Alderson Broaddus) #5 Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) vs #4 Brian Kennerly (Kutztown) #3 Derek Blubaugh (Indianapolis) vs Logan Kemp (West Liberty) #7 Joel Leise (Gannon) vs #2 Noah Ryan (St. Cloud State) The quarterfinals could look very different than my prediction, but I expect that Dalton Abney and Noah Ryan are safe bets to make it that far. Brain Kennerly was a heavyweight for Division I Virginia in 2020 and 2021. You may remember that the last wrestler from a Division I school in Virginia who transferred to Kutztown found a lot of success. He was not tested this season before the Super Regional and then he just went out and pinned Gino Sita in overtime and beat Joel Leise by a major decision 15-6. I don't know. It may be sentimental, my picking of Nicholas Mason in this match, but we all know how good Mason can be when he is good. Derek Blubaugh has a chance to make the finals for the Hounds, but he will need to make his way past Logan Kemp here. I have Kemp earning the upset first round over Hayden Prince (Nebraska Kearney), but either way, Blubaugh should be the favorite in the quarters. The Joel Leise matchup with Noah Ryan is one of those you want to take a little longer look at. Ryan beat him in the wrestlebacks in 2021 and this could come down to who has gotten better since then. The record seems to show that it is Noah Ryan. Semifinals Dalton Abney (Central Oklahoma) vs Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) Derek Blubaugh (Indianapolis) vs Noah Ryan (St Cloud State) I am sure of my pick for Dalton Abney to reach this point but I keep wanting to go back and change my Nicholas Mason/Brian Kennerly prediction. It is too late, I broke my “delete” button on this keyboard years ago and have never looked back. Either way, I believe that Abney is the wrestler to beat at this weight and he should advance. Derek Blubaugh taking on Noah Ryan is a redshirt freshman taking on a redshirt junior. If Indianapolis is in the middle of the team race, despite my bold “pretender” prediction, this semifinal looms large for the Hounds. It's a chance to score big points while also knocking out a team race competitor. That holds true for Noah Ryan too, the Huskies will need every point they can find to hold off Central Oklahoma and Nebraska Kearney. The margin for error is so small in these matches that I will lean on the experience of Noah Ryan to get it done. Finals Dalton Abney (Central Oklahoma) vs Noah Ryan (St. Cloud State) Dalton Abney can ride. This match may come down to what Noah Ryan chooses when he has to make a decision. Does he go under and know that he will need to find a way to earn an escape, or does he choose neutral and rely on his offense. It also may come down to how the referee interprets “stalling”. If the official allows Abney to control the position from top without really attempting a turn, it could be a rough finals match for Ryan. On their feet, I would grade these two fairly close. That mat wrestling is going to be the decision-maker. Knowing he may be unable to choose bottom adds that much more urgency to every exchange for Ryan and can cause mistakes. 1st Dalton Abney - University of Central Oklahoma 2nd Noah Ryan - St. Cloud State University 3rd Nicholas Mason - Tiffin University 4th Derek Blubaugh - University of Indianapolis 5th Brian Kennerly - Kutztown University 6th Logan Kemp - West Liberty University 7th Gino Sita - Alderson Broaddus University 8th Walker Uhl - Ashland University HWT Andrew Dunn (Kutztown), Francesco Borsellino (West Liberty), and Kameron Teacher (St Cloud State) have a combined 2021 record of 52-1 in Division II. Dunn is the 2019 national champion. Borsellino is a returning All-American. Teacher is a three-time All-American and 2021 national champion. They are all on the same side of the bracket. Opposite of them are SRIV champion Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma), SRV champion Darrell Mason (MSU Mankato), and 2021 finalist Weston Hunt (Mines). This bracket is the “fair and balanced” of brackets. Darrell Mason's upset finals victory over Teacher threw this entire weight class into disarray and took what should have been the premier finals match and made it a semifinal battle. Good for him. A miserable failure for me as a fan. Returning All-Americans Steven Hajas (Augustana) and AJ Cooper (Fort Hays State) are not even seeded in the bracket. Neither is Weston Hunt who finds himself in an opening-round match against Division I transfer Shawn Streck. Lee Herrington (Nebraska Kearney) can keep his team's hopes alive if he can finish his season with a win, he fell to Steven Hajas in the consolation finals last year. AJ Cooper starts right off against Jacob Robb (Mercyhurst), have your cameras ready because these two will go big quickly. Robb has lost to Dunn and Ian Kuehl (McKendree) both twice this season. That was enough to propel Kuehl to the fifth seed despite not even being a #SRIV finalist. Or at least that is what I have to think. Neither of his losses to Division II wrestlers was to an athlete who qualified for the national tournament. This weight class could finish exactly how the seeds play out and I would still argue that it was seeded wrong. I mean, Borsellino is a returning All-American who won all of his matches scoring bonus in more than 80% of them and you are telling me should be seeded LOWER than where he finished in 2021? Quarterfinals #1 Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) vs #8 Francesco Borsellino (West Liberty) #5 Ian Kuehl (McKendree) vs #4 Kam Teacher (St. Cloud State) #3 Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma) vs #6 Lee Herrington (Kearney) #7 Jacob Robb (Mercyhurst) vs #2 Darrell Mason (MSU Mankato) I can admit when I am wrong and I am going to be wrong at about at least one name in these quarterfinals. The separation among these athletes is so thin that I expect to see more than one first-round match go into sudden victory. When that happens, upsets are sure to follow. I feel like Andrew Dunn and Kameron Teacher are going to be exceptions to that rule as neither of them should be tested right away. Francesco Borsellino and Ian Kuehl will start their days off with tough matches. I feel that Borsellino is better than the eighth, but no matter his seed, there is too much separation between him and Dunn. The same thing goes with Kuehl and Kam Teacher. Shawn Streck has been perfect since joining Central Oklahoma and they will need him to send the Kearney big man to the consolation side to maximize their team points. Herrington was a 2021 All-American, but in their dual meeting, Streck was the victor, 5-2. I am picking an upset special this round, Jacob Robb will find a way to score the takedown he needs to beat the two-seed Darrell Mason. Mason is coming off a huge win over Kam Teacher in the #SRV finals, but he only wrestled one Division II wrestler who was not from that Super Region. His lone win out of #SRV was McKendree backup heavyweight Julian Ramirez. He is going to be tested in round one by Freddie Nixon (Gannon) and from there it does not get any easier. Semifinals Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) vs Kam Teacher (St. Cloud State) Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma) vs Jacob Robb (Mercyhurst) Am I a little bitter that that is a semifinal instead of a finals match at this weight? Am I upset that this super match could be how we ended the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling National Tournament and instead it is a semifinal? Have I wracked my brain wondering why this is happening? The answer to all of those questions is yes. The last time these two met was the 2019 national tournament semifinals in Cleveland, so I guess they should meet in this round again. Then it was Andrew Dunn pulling the upset and sending the second-seed Kam Teacher into the consolation of the bracket. Will Kam Teacher return the favor and vault his team ahead on the leaderboard? Shawn Streck was a national qualifier as a freshman for Purdue in Division I. His arrival in Division II at Central Oklahoma was a huge boon to their national title hopes and may end up being the difference. He will face the dangerous Jacob Robb in the second semifinal. This could be a battle of styles as Robb tends to be more successful when there is more mat action. Streck is so strong and keeps such great positioning that it may end up difficult for Robb to find those attack angles that lead to big points. Finals Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) vs Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma) I am rolling with “Dunnyboi” no matter who, where, or why in this national tournament. He has not lost a match to a Division II wrestler. He is now a four-time national qualifier and the way he has bounced back after being forced to miss all of the 2021 season due to Covid is a testament to his mental fortitude and commitment to the sport of wrestling. If he passes the test in Kam Teacher in the semifinals he faces a fellow Division I transfer in Streck. They have a history dating all the way back to 2018 CKLV. There Streck was a 5-1 victor over Dunn in what would be their only collegiate meeting. Their paths have diverged since then, but now they find themselves on a collision course with a national title on the line. Andrew Dunn is the champion of this weight until someone defeats him and it has not happened yet. 1st Andrew Dunn - Kutztown University 2nd Shawn Streck - Central Oklahoma University 3rd Kameron Teacher - St Cloud State University 4th Francesco Borsellino - West Liberty University 5th Jacob Robb - Mercyhurst University 6th Darrell Mason - Minnesota State University Mankato 7th Lee Herrington - University of Nebraska Kearney 8th Weston Hunt - Colorado School of Mines I know you are all dying to see my team race prediction as well. I truly believe that this will be a four-team race between Nebraska Kearney, St Cloud State, West Liberty, and Central Oklahoma. Keep your eye on Indianapolis, Gannon, and Kutztown as they look to play spoiler while pushing for the top five as well. Team Champions: University of Nebraska-Kearney Runner-up: Central Oklahoma University 3rd Place: St Cloud State University 4th: West Liberty University 5th: University of Indianapolis

Ridge Lovett (right) and Jaden Abas at the 2021 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com NCAA brackets have been released! The first of our many articles related to the 2022 NCAA Championships will focus on the best opening round matches. There are plenty at every weight class, but we'll focus on one per weight. While anyone is susceptible to a loss, these competitors will have to be ready to go, match number one, out of the gate! 125 lbs #9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) vs. #24 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) It's sort of surprising to see a 9/24 matchup as one of the best of the first round, but Sam Latona isn't a typical 24th seed. Latona was an NCAA All-American a year ago and entered the tournament as the second seed. Schroder is a two-time Big Ten finalist that came up a match shy of the podium a year ago. Both were in the top ten to start the year and this was a bout you'd expect to see in the bloodround moreso than session one. 133 lbs #9 Michael Colaiocco (Penn) vs. #24 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) Another good one at 9/24. EIWA champion Michael Colaiocco makes his NCAA tournament debut after the 2020 event was canceled. He's only lost twice this year and comes in on an 11-match winning streak. More often than not, your recent record is more important than season totals at the NCAA Tournament. That bodes well for Ramazan Attasaouv, who finished third at the Big 12. During dual competition, Attasauov hung tough with #2 Daton Fix and #5 Austin DeSanto. 141 lbs #14 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) vs. #19 Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) Two of the most notable at-large selections at 141 lbs will clash in the opening round as three-time NCAA All-American meets Dresden Simon, a 2021 NCAA Round of 12 finisher. Last year, the two squared off in the Round of 16, as Red Jr. was the eighth seed and Simon the ninth. In that instance, Simon pulled the ever-so-slight upset, 6-3. That evened the score between these two, who also met at the 2016 Midlands, while redshirting. Red Jr. got that one, 9-3. We'll have to see what condition both are in, mentally and physically, after both going 1-2 and failing to place at their respective conference tournaments. 149 lbs #10 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs. #23 Jaden Abas (Stanford) This is another matchup that feels like it should take place in the quarterfinals or the bloodround, rather than right off the bat. Jaden Abas was a seventh-place finisher at the tournament last year, while Lovett entered the 2021 championships as the fifth seed, after making the Big Ten finals. These two already met at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and Lovett had a surprisingly one-sided, 9-2 decision. But, Abas has been there and done that, at the big show, while Lovett was 1-2. 157 lbs #16 Brady Berge (Penn State) vs. #17 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) Seeing Big Ten third-place finisher Brady Berge as the 16th seed doesn't really pass the eyeball test, but I'm sure his lack of matches hurt him in the seeding room. That didn't hurt him in Lincoln, as he started B1G's as the tenth seed and reeled off a pair of wins over Kaleb Young (Iowa) and dominated Kendall Coleman (Purdue). Hunter Willits is as solid as they come. While he has six losses this year and turned in a subpar performance in Vegas. Willits has risen to the level of his competition and taken undefeated #3 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) into extra time on two occasions. 165 lbs #15 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) vs. #18 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) In the 2021 Tournament, Anthony Valencia was the second seed at 165 lbs. On the opposite side of the bracket, Austin Yant was the lowest-seeded wrestler of the bunch at #33. Yant has improved dramatically, finishing third in the Big12 and sporting a record with only six losses. Valencia started the year winning 13 straight, but now is in the midst of a 3-6 slump. If Valencia can right the ship, he can get an "upset" that's only an upset in number. 174 lbs #12 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) vs. #21 Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) One of the more underappreciated wrestlers at this weight has been Bailee O'Reilly. O'Reilly seized the starting role for the Gophers after a third-place showing at the Southern Scuffle. A strong showing at the B1G's could have catapulted him into the top ten, but instead, he had to pull out with an injury. Hopefully, it's something he can fight through in Detroit. He'll see a familiar face in Cade Devos, someone who edged him by a point at the Bison Open, 3-2. DeVos also blossomed in 2021-22, a regular season that was highlighted by a title at the Scuffle. 184 lbs #16 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) vs. #17 Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) By the numbers, 16 vs 17 should be the most competitive bout at every weight. That certainly looks like the case at 184 lbs. Two-time NCAA All-American Dakota Geer fought through Jeremiah Kent in the school's classic dual meet with a 2-0 win. Kent seems to have heated up at the right time and defeated #7 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) in the season finale, before doing so again in the Big 12 semifinals. Geer, on the other hand, did not automatically qualify and had to rely on an at-large berth. 197 lbs #10 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. #23 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) Obviously, the NCAA season is folkstyle, but both of these two have proven themselves in freestyle. Braxton Amos with a Junior world title and Yonger Bastida a Junior world silver medal and a bronze at U23's. However, this plays out; we should see a lot of offense from the pair. As one may expect, Bastida has seen his results improve as he becomes more acclimated to folkstyle. Amos had sky-high expectations this year, but hasn't been able to crack into the top-20 consistently. But none of that matters with a couple of wins next week. 285 lbs #16 Zach Elam (Missouri) vs. #17 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) This is another matchup where the lower-seeded wrestler is a multiple-time All-American. That's Trent Hillger, albeit a very slight underdog, seeding-wise. Hillger had an off-song Big Ten and had to settle for ninth-place, though he still qualified automatically. Zach Elam was an upset victim at the Big 12 Championship, but rallied for third place. These two have a history with each other at the NCAA Tournament. While both were freshmen, they met in the bloodround and Hillger prevailed, 1-0.

The 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will take place Detroit (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com The brackets have been released for the 2022 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The event takes place March 17-19 in Detroit. Link: Brackets

Three-time national qualifier Jacob Robb of Mercyhurst (Photo courtesy of Mercyhurst athletics) Did you know the first known usage of the phrase “dark horse” is from some guy named Benjamin Disraeli's novel The Young Duke way back in 1831? What it meant and still means, is a horse that gamblers do not really know much about and is therefore tough to place odds on. In the #D2Wrestle world, and therefore in my world, it means a wrestler who I think will challenge for a national title that most people will not see coming, if all they look at is the top seeds in the brackets. In 2021, Fairmont State University had a national champion in Division I transfer Lukas Martin (149). In 2019, I picked Kutztown's heavyweight Andrew Dunn to make a run, and then he went out and exceeded my expectations, winning a national title. I do not expect you to go out on a limb; that is my job. So watch me walk way out on these branches as I pick a wrestler at each weight. I expect to not only upset the apple cart, but to flip the whole thing over. 125 Josh Portillo - University of Nebraska Kearney There is no one in Division II I am a bigger fan of than Josh Portillo. He is a four-time NCAA Division II national qualifier. You would think that the 2019 finalist would be resting on his laurels. One of those laurels is the NCAA Elite 90 Award, which basically means he is the smartest guy in all of Division II (it really means he had the highest GPA of all qualifiers). He has been open about his battle with mental health in an attempt to dispel the stigma among athletes. He and his brother are active on social media and had one of the most exciting matches in college this season when Grand View traveled to Kearney. He has also promised to become my internet nemesis after this season. All of that aside, let's look at the bracket. As the sixth-seed, he has a path that would include the three-seed Paxton Creese (St. Cloud State) and the two-seed Paxton Rosen (Central Oklahoma) to make the finals. They are both wrestlers who defeated him this season. A year ago, a loss in the bloodround ended his season and may have mathematically cost the Lopers the team championship. In 2022, I don't think there is any way that he comes up short again. He has put his heart and soul into this team. 133 Collin Wickramaratna - Kutztown University Collin Wickramaratna was a Division III national qualifier for Ursinus College back in 2019. He is now a two-time Division II national qualifier and will look to end his junior season as an All-American. He sits in the bracket as the sixth-seed with a path to the quarterfinals and semifinals within reach. Two seasons ago, he upset returning national champion Tyler Warner (West Liberty) in the SRI finals (Warner was at Pitt-Johnstown at the time), but was denied his chance to wrestle for the podium by the cancellation of the tournament. He is 28-1 against Division II foes, with the lone loss to Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst) avenged in the SRI finals. I want to watch the New Jersey native go full Jersey Shore and fist pump on the podium. He hails from Cherokee High School in Marlton, which is closer to PA than to the shore, but I am not about to let geography rain on my parade. 141 Tyler Warner - West Liberty University Why is a three-time All-American, two-time defending national champion a “dark horse”? Well, when you go up a weight class and then take two losses on the season, you have to wonder if he has lost a step. Then again, he is the most decorated wrestler in all of Division II at the moment. When you add in his 2020 NWCA All-American honors, he is already a four-time All-American. Some athletes just know when to turn it on and Tyler Warner has shown me over his history that when the lights shine the brightest, he will be ready. He would have back-to-back matches against 2021 All-Americans to just make the semifinals, where he gets a shot at revenge against Branson Proudlock (Findlay). Every win he earns in St. Louis adds to his legacy and the history books he has been writing alongside head coach Danny Irwin since their time together at Wheeling Jesuit. 149 Dom Means - Gannon University The 2020 NWCA All-American from Gannon University, Dom Means, is the 2022 Midwest Classic Champion. That tends to bode well for performance at the national tournament and, while I understand that he has taken two losses late in the season, they were to Jacob Ealy (Pitt-Johnstown) and to the undefeated at the time Josh Laubach (Alderson Broaddus). Means already has a win over Noah Hermosillo (Adams State), Wyatt Turnquist (Northern State), Jason Hanenberg (Western Colorado), and Brik Filippo (Central Oklahoma). From his position, he is what we like to refer to as a “bracket buster.” Pick against him at your own peril. 157 Chance Esmont - Ashland University It is unclear to me how Chance Esmont did not do enough at the SR3 tournament to warrant a seed in St Louis. The #SuperSenior from Pickerington, Ohio, has saved his best for last. His win over 2021 returning national champion James Wimer (Findlay) propelled him to the national tournament and his victory over three-time national qualifier Noah Tarr (Davis & Elkins) made him a super-regional champion. An early test against the dangerous Mason Boutain (San Francisco State) looms and after that, he faces 2021 All-American Ty Lucas (Central Oklahoma). If he continues his hot streak, those are winnable matches. I want to see his story continue and he has the skill set to keep writing his name upon the record books. 165 Dillon Keane - University of Pitt-Johnstown Let me be clear, Dillon Keane is my pick to make it to the 165 semifinals against Matt Malcom (Kearney). What will happen when he gets there is up to him. Keane is a redshirt freshman out of Bradford High School in McKean, Pennsylvania, who was unable to advance to the national tournament in 2021. This season he has run his record to a perfect 15-0 against Division II wrestlers and earned himself the 5th seed at the national tournament. He will open the tournament with Rashaan Vereen (UNC Pembroke) and after that test, he will have Drew Weichers (Ashland). The two met early in the season and Keane was able to win a 9-7 match in TB1. Two wins to start the day and he will meet the surprise fourth-seed Jack Eiteljorge (Indianapolis) with All-American status on the line. Besides the win over Weichers early on, he also owns a win over 2021 national qualifier Chase Morgan (West Liberty) and 2020 national qualifier Evan Fisler (Gannon). 174 Dillon Walker - Mercyhurst University If you are looking for a first-round upset special, keep an eye on true freshman Dillon Walker when he takes on Daniel Beemer (Ashland) right away. Beemer was forced to MFF from the SR3 finals and it cost him at the seeding meeting. He now meets a very good athlete in Dillon Walker who can and will take full advantage if he is not 100%. The path for Walker is set after that as he would face Caleb Spears (Newberry). Spears has won 12 straight matches, but at the Midwest Classic, he fell to Walker by technical fall. Looking at the freshman's results this season, it is weird to see three matches lost in SV-1 by the score of 3-1. If he can win one or two of those next weekend, he will be an All-American. Walker has made the jump from being a two-time Ohio state placer for LaSalle High School in Cincinnati to a possible All-American in his first season in Division II. 184 Billy Higgins - University of Nebraska Kearney I am sure everyone is aware of Billy Higgins after his win over returning national champion Heath Gray (Central Oklahoma) in their dual meeting. But here is the thing, at this weight, that was only good enough for the third seed. A two-time Nebraska Class B state champion at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School, Higgins found himself wrestling in Colorado in college. After three years with the University of Northern Colorado, Higgins transferred to Kearney and took over the 174-pound spot. It did not seem like a great fit, though; he started off with just a 7-6 record. Then came the move to 184 and a 10 match winning streak that saw him defeat Gray, Nolan Krone (Colorado Mesa), and Martin Verhaeghe (Fort Hays State) twice. He is one of the most important parts of the Loper push for a team trophy. If he wrestles as well as I think he can, he could be the athlete who brings the team title back to Kearney. 197 Nicholas Mason - Tiffin University But Bryce, Mason is a 2019 NCAA champion; he cannot be a dark horse. I disagree. It has been three years since his run to the top of the podium and since then, he has had a national tournament canceled in 2020 and gone 0-2 at the 2021 tournament. It's been three years since he has won a match on the biggest stage. This season he has taken three losses in Division II. Going into the postseason, he was ranked outside the top five by myself. Do you want to read a crazy statistic, Nicholas Mason is 16-3 in his Super Regional with a 14 match win streak and four straight titles. Do you want dominance? How about 10 falls? Or maybe you will be impressed by six consecutive pins and an MFF (in the finals, no less). Nicholas Mason is a #SuperSenior with unfinished business and the talent to back up that hunger. The Utica High School product out of Shelby Township in Michigan, has been a staple of Division II these last few years and capping his career off with another crown would be Manning retiring after a Superbowl win. The perfect ending to an amazing story. Not too shabby for a kid who was just a two-time state qualifier, never placing higher than 5th. 285 Jacob Robb - Mercyhurst University At a weight class with a clear favorite in Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) and another returning national champion, it is hard to see someone else making a run to the finals. And most people would pick a wrestler like Darrell Mason (MSU Mankato) or Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma) if they were going to pick anyone. Streck has dominated since entering the lineup in the second semester and Mason just defeated Kam Teacher in the Super Regional V finals. But give me the pinning machine #SuperSenior from Armstrong High School in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. He is a member of the century club in Division II and, for the last three seasons, has been one of the most prolific bonus machines in the country. As a heavyweight! His four losses in Division II this year? Andrew Dunn and Ian Kuehl (McKendree). He was undefeated a year ago before injury ended his season. Robb just pushed Dunn to an overtime match in the Super Regional I finals. Sleep on this explosive big man if you want, but I, for one, could see him going on a run and finding himself in the NCAA finals. Nearly half of his wins this season have come by fall. Overlook him at your own peril.

3x Big Ten Champion Gable Steveson (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) The Big Ten Conference tournament wrapped up on Sunday. No. 1 Penn State finished with four individual champions, but No. 2 Michigan walked away with the tournament title. Along the way, there were several top statistical performers. These performances say a lot about not only a wrestler's showing on the conference level but also their prospects at next week's NCAA tournament. No. 1 Nick Lee (Penn State) recently completed an undefeated regular season. His last loss came in the 2021 Big Ten final against No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa). Since then, Lee has won all of his matches, including a pair of rematches against Eierman. The two seemed destined to meet in the Big Ten finals once again before Lee received a medical forfeit and took home the conference title. While Lee only wrestled two matches at the Big Ten tournament, his dynamic scoring was on full display. He scored 3.14 points per minute, while only allowing 0.10 points per minute. His +3.04 point differential was the highest of the entire tournament. In his two matches against No. 24 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin) and No. 10 Jake Bergeland (Minnesota), Lee scored five takedowns, three four-point near falls, three two-point near falls and two reversals. Interestingly enough, both of his reversals came in the third period to close out technical falls. The only point he allowed was a first-period escape against Bergeland. Despite having the lowest bonus rate of his career this season (58.82%), Lee appears to be rounding into form and poised to make a run at his second NCAA title. He will enter his final tournament as the number-one seed and the clear favorite. The rest of the top five in point differential features some of the usual suspects. No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) forfeited out of the tournament after making the semifinals. No. 5 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) suffered a close loss against eventual champion No. 3 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) at 165 pounds, before bouncing back with a sudden victory upset over No. 7 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) in the third-place match. Top Five Point Differential Performances Nick Lee (Penn State) +3.04 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) +2.13 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) +1.44 Nick Suriano (Michigan) +1.38 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) +1.13 No. 1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) continued his historic run through the heavyweight division. Like Lee, he received a medical forfeit in the finals, but he scored a 20-5 technical fall over No. 15 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) and a 14-6 major decision over No. 5 Mason Parris (Michigan). His points per minute rate was the highest of the tournament as he edged out Lee's rate by only 0.006. In those two matches, Steveson had 13 takedowns and added three two-point near falls. He, as per usual, allowed nothing but escapes. For the season, he has outscored his opponents 201 to one excluding escapes, and that one point was a penalty point for shoving Parris out of bounds during their regular season match. After adding 13 takedowns this past weekend, Steveson now has 81 for the season. He has not come close to surrendering one this year. If he is able to finish the NCAA tournament without giving up a two-point score, he should take home his second-straight Hodge trophy and ride off into the WWE craziness. Top Five Points per Minute Performances Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 3.14 Nick Lee (Penn State) 3.14 Nick Suriano (Michigan) 2.04 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) 1.92 Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 1.57 While Lee only allowed one point through two matches and had the lowest points allowed per minute rate (0.10), the wrestler who displayed the second-best defense was a bit of a surprise. No. 6 Cameron Amine (Michigan) entered the tournament as the fourth seed, and he ended up facing off against Kharchla in the semifinals. He won that match and moved on to the finals. Amine allowed only five points through his four matches. The only match where he allowed more than one point was the final. Marinelli managed to best him via a 2-1 score. Even in that performance, Amine allowed only an escape and a stalling point. So far this season, Amine has a 16-5 record. He has only allowed 2.29 points per match, and he has only allowed more than three points in three of his matches on the year. Having a lot of close matches can be risky, but at the same time, the strategy often pays dividends at tournament time. If Amine can show this type of defense at the NCAA tournament, he might be able to get on a roll and score a few more upsets. Top Five Points Against per Minute Performances Nick Lee (Penn State) 0.10 Cameron Amine (Michigan) 0.17 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 0.19 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 0.24 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 0.25 Amine's trip the finals was an essential part of Michigan's tournament victory. The Wolverines won their first Big Ten crown since 1973. As a team, they averaged 0.78 match points per minute and allowed 0.49 per minute. This left the squad with a collective +0.29 differential. Despite finishing with only one champion and finishing third, Iowa had the highest point differential. The Hawkeyes scored 0.82 points per minute, which was the second-highest scoring rate behind Wisconsin (0.87). Defensively they allowed only 0.41 points per minute, which was second-best behind Penn State (0.39). Top Five Point Differential Performances by Team Iowa +0.41 Penn State +0.40 Michigan +0.29 Wisconsin +0.10 Ohio State +0.06 Many wrestlers choose to slow down the pace when tournament time comes around. While early in the season, folks are willing to let it fly, there is a lot of the line in a qualifier for the NCAA tournament. This was mostly the case last weekend, as the average combine points per match was 9.41. However, there was one in the 157-pound weight class that defied this trend. In the first round of the tournament, No. 13 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) and Lucas Cordio (Maryland) combined to score 30 points, and Coleman walked away with the major decision victory. Cordio actually started off the scoring with a takedown 10 seconds into the match. The Purdue wrestler appeared to then take over with three takedowns of his own. However, Cordio got back into the match with a takedown in the last 45 seconds. The comeback came up well short. This time Coleman really did take control. He scored five more takedowns and walked away with the major decision victory.

DII's top-ranked 133 lber Tanner Cole (photo courtesy of UCO athletics) I am sure all of you need some sort of #D2Wrestle corkboard motivation and I am here to provide it. Last time (2019), I did a "Contenders & Pretenders" piece. I got the chance to fly home with one of the pretenders who was able to tell just how wrong I was after they finished in the top-10. Shout out to that 2019 Newberry College team that almost missed their flight out of Cleveland. But looking back, I was pretty accurate overall. First off, let me be clear, being a "pretender" is not necessarily a slight against your program. Realistically, there are four teams who can really make a run at the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling team national championship. To win the crown, it will take, at minimum, six All-Americans and multiple national finalists. Last season, St. Cloud State University had five finalists and were only able to finish ahead of the University of Nebraska Kearney by one and a half points. The battle for the top-10 is pretty wide-open, but if you want that team trophy, or to take home any of that hardware, it's going to take a full team effort. The contenders will be the teams I see chasing that trophy and if your team happens to fall into the pretender category, it's only because I see them missing the firepower needed to upset one of those programs in the standings. They could still be forces to be reckoned with and can enjoy their chance to play spoiler. The fanbases of teams will be expanded as Lopers' fans cheer for anyone wrestling St. Cloud or Central Oklahoma, while the Huskies will be rooting for anyone taking on Central Oklahoma or Kearney. Think Oklahoma State fans cheering for the Hawkeyes against Penn State kind of thing. To the teams who do not make my contender list, prove me wrong and I promise to eat crow. Here are the 11 teams I expect to perform the best and my analysis of their team trophy chances, in alphabetical order. Ashland University National Qualifiers: 5 Super Regional Champions: 2 The Eagles will send five athletes to St. Louis in Colt Sponsellor's second season at the helm. They may have put two athletes at the top of the podium in Super Regional III, but they may be hard-pressed to have a finalist at the national tournament. Their best chance at that will be Daniel Beemer (174), but his injury default leaves his status suspect in a brutal weight class. Depending on how the seeds go, anything less than 100% healthwise could make a finals run very unlikely. I know that Chance Esmont (157) went full beast mode in upsetting returning national champion James Wimer (Findlay) and rode that momentum to a championship. If he cannot capture that magic again, he will find himself in a bracket with 12 athletes who were ranked heading into the postseason. Missing multiple-time returning All-American Aidan Pasiuk (184) is probably going to cost them; they just seem to have guys that are in that low All-American (6-8)/Round of 12 areas. That will not be enough to fight for a team trophy and could make them a bubble top-10 team. But hey, I am setting them up with a chance to prove me wrong. Outlook: Pretender Augustana University Qualifiers: 8 Super Regional Champions: 2 The Vikings had one of the best Super Regionals by any team who did not win the title. Eight qualifiers were highlighted by two champions in Jack Huffman (133) and Cade Mueller (174). That is great and honestly, head coach Jason Reitmeier would have been my vote for Super Regional coach of the year. But at the national tournament, I am not sure they have the horsepower to score enough points to stay at the top for two days. Their team will be led by potential second seed, Cade Mueller at 174, who could be the first Augustana national finalist since 2019 in Cleveland. One finalist will not be enough. The lineup does have six potential All-Americans if the brackets play out and, if Mueller can win it all, they are going to have a big tournament. The most important wrestlers for them will be Jaxson Rohman (125) and Jack Huffman (133). If these two lightweights can spark the rest of the lineup, this team has a very high ceiling. They could also be the undoing of some of the other teams as they have shown that they are not intimidated in the least by tough competition. You do not go toe-to-toe with St. Cloud State and not find your confidence. I talked myself into it, Augustana University. Outlook: Contender Gannon University National Qualifiers: 8 Super Regional Champions: 2 Disclaimer: If Gannon had their returning national champion Alex Farenchak (165), they would immediately skyrocket to a contender. They, however, do not have their returning national champion Alex Farenchak. They do have eight athletes headed to the national tournament, as many as West Liberty, Central Oklahoma, and St Cloud State. I worry that the Knights could find themselves without a national finalist, which makes winning a team trophy a tall task. More than that, they are built similar to Ashland in that they seem to have low All-American/Round of 12 wrestlers. Dom Means (149) and Joel Leise (197) are going to have to shoulder the load to propel head coach Don Henry to a team title. Even if they can secure six All-American finishes, it will not be enough to finish in the top four. A wildcard for their team will be Cameron Page (184); a week ago, I did not think there was any way he qualified for the national tournament. Now headed to St Louis, he can cause all kinds of chaos at a weight where Kearney, Central Oklahoma, and West Liberty all have athletes looking for high finishes. Outlook: Pretender Newberry College National Qualifiers: 5 Super Regional Champions: 2 In 2019, I had the audacity to call the Wolves a bunch of pretenders and boy did I hear about it after their top-10 finish. I feel like a thank you was more in order after I provided them with such great motivation headed into the national tournament. In fact, I think it is only right I extend that same opportunity to new head coach Deral Brown. Listen, the Wolves brought the Super Regional crown back to Newberry and crowned two individual champions. That is great. They also have a likely finalist and a possible winner in Isiah Royal (149). The 2021 national champion at 141 pounds returned to the lineup in the second semester and has been perfect. He honestly has not been challenged and is my pick as the top seed at his weight. After him though, the Wolves have Caleb Spears (174) and Evan Carrigan (125). Two athletes who made the run to the Super Regional II finals will threaten All-American status. That is if Evan Carrigan is recovered from whatever injury kept him from the finals and Spears can duplicate the run that saw him defeat Billy Higgins (Kearney) and Josh Jones (McKendree). There are too many "ifs" for me to call the Wolves a contender this season. Outlook: Pretender St. Cloud State University National Qualifiers: 7 Super Regional Champions: 5 The St. Cloud State University Huskies have never had to rebuild under head coach Steve Costanzo. They just keep reloading the gun and firing at the Division II field. This season is no different, but they may find that there are teams in St. Louis who are going to be firing back. The Huskies are loaded for bear, though, with five athletes who find themselves seeded in the top four. They also have Garret Vos (133) and Nick Novak (149) as wrestlers who should be expected to be All-Americans. A best-case scenario sees them with finalists in Paxton Creese (125), Joey Bianchini (141), Anthony Herrera (157), Noah Ryan (197), and Kameron Teacher (Hwt). . Remember, they found a way to put five wrestlers into the finals a year ago and if they can do so again they could be on their way to extending their dominance. There is no team in the nation riding the same winning streak as the Huskies after Grand View University finished as the NAIA runner-up a season ago. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, but I am fairly certain that St. Cloud State has no desire to abdicate the throne. They will have to be usurped. Outlook: Contender West Liberty University National Qualifiers: 8 Super Regional Champions: 4 The meteoric rise of the West Liberty University Hilltoppers began after the conclusion of the 2019 season when Wheeling Jesuit University made one of the dumbest and most shortsighted athletic decisions in Division II wrestling history after the shuttering of Nebraska-Omaha's program. Their loss was West Liberty's gain as head coach Danny Irwin pulled up stakes and took nearly all of his best athletes with him. Now, three years later, the Hilltoppers are back again after finishing fourth in 2021. Led by returning national champion Cole Laya (125), two-time champion Tyler Warner (141), 2019 champion and 2021 finalist Connor Craig, and a heavyweight in Francesco Borsellino, who just keeps getting better, West Liberty can win it all. They are going to need some help, though; Tyler Warner has seemed human since moving up two 141 from 133, taking two losses in his limited action. They will need Ty McGeary (174) to finish high on the podium; he'll start as the fifth seed. Seeding at 174 is going to be key. At 197, four-time qualifier Logan Kemp will need to earn his first All-American finish for West Liberty to have a realistic shot at winning it all. He has been nothing but consistent when healthy for his program, but now in his final trip to the national tournament, they need him to be one of the nation's best. The real wildcard on this team is Francesco Borsellino; the big man has been on a tear this season, but St Louis will see him finally match up against the best Division II has to offer. He should not be overlooked, Irwin has a history of coaching very successful heavyweights. West Liberty is going to have a good tournament; how good could really depend on how much they believe that they are a… Outlook: Contender University of Central Oklahoma National Qualifiers: 8 Super Regional Champions: 6 What makes a national championship team in Division II? Add three parts national finalists, a dash of high-level All-Americans, a surprise run by an athlete who catches fire, and a coach who knows what he is doing. Guess what, sports fans, the University of Central Oklahoma has all of those things. The Broncs are one of the real contenders with a chance to end the run of St. Cloud State University. A team with very possible finalist/national champions at 133 (Tanner Cole), 149 (Brik Fililppo), 157 (Tyler Lucas), 184 (Heath Gray), and 197 (Dalton Abney). They also have high All-American chances at 125 (Paxton Rosen) and Shawn Streck (Hwt). If Alex Kaufman (174) plays the role of "spoiler" and finishes on the podium, they have the final ingredient in head coach Todd Steidley ready and waiting. This is a team that has spent time as the number one program this year and they backed it up at the Super Regional IV tournament. I was expecting them to get at least seven through and they managed eight. If they had managed to get Nate Keim (141) through, I would have listed them as the absolute favorites. Do not crown them just yet, but for sure they come is as… Outlook: Contender University of Indianapolis National Qualifiers: 7 Super Regional Champions: 2 The University of Indianapolis moved from Super Regional III to Super Regional IV in 2022, which is like moving from AAA to the majors. Super Regional IV may not produce the team champion, yet, but they consistently post the highest number of All-Americans. Iron sharpens iron and in Super Regional IV, there is a lot of that element. The Hounds kicked down the door and put eight wrestlers into the semifinals of the toughest Super Regional in the country. They kept their hot streak going and are sending seven wrestlers to the national tournament. This is the most national qualifiers for head coach Jason Warthan and the most for the program since 2014. They crowned champions at 165 in Jack Eiteljorge and 174 in Andrew Sams. They will also be sending the Bailey Bros (patent pending) after Breyden finished third at 133 and Logan was runner-up at 149. The Achilles heel of this team may end up being a lack of finalists. It is not unbelievable that Dawson Combest (157), Derek Blubaugh (197) or Andrew Sams make the finals, but it would take two or maybe even all of them to make Indianapolis real trophy threats. And they would need the Bailey Brothers and Eiteljorge to climb up the podium as well. There are just too many "ifs" in this lineup for them to be trophy contenders, but despite my outlook for them, I expect them to push as a top-five team. Outlook: Pretender University of Nebraska-Kearney National Qualifiers: 9 Super Regional Champions: 8 Let's start with the bad news for the Lopers, they will not have a point-scorer in the 157 weight class that in 2021 netted them an All-American finish. That is the end of the bad news. The good news is they are sending nine wrestlers to St. Louis, with eight of them bringing a Super Regional VI title along. That is twice as many champs as West Liberty, three more than St. Cloud State, and even two more than Central Oklahoma. Do not bet against head coach Dalton Jensen, he has been chasing that title for too long and he wants to bring it back to Kearney. I do want the writer for the Kearney wrestling team to start giving me credit for the term #SuperSenior, but we can talk about that later. I will give credit to a team that is entering the postseason on a heater worthy of a Caesars craps table. Wesley Dawkins (133) and Matt Malcom (165) are top-two seeds at their respective weights. Billy Higgins (184) could've been the number one, but checks in at three. This team may be better than the 2021 group that came up just one and a half points short. Realistically, they could have nine All-Americans and anything less than seven would be disappointing to me. If they are going to do it, though, this needs to be the year. They will be graduating a lot of firepower. Outlook: Contender University of North Carolina-Pembroke National Qualifiers: 6 Super Regional Champions: 2 In 2011, the first season with OT Johnson taking over, the Braves finished tied for eighth at the NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling Championship. It has been 11 years since UNC Pembroke has finished the tournament in the top-10. Could 2021 be the season? It will probably take 40 team points and with six national qualifiers, there is a chance. Nick Daggett (125) was a national finalist a year ago and if he can duplicate that run or even finish as an All-American once again, that could be the spark they need. He will need help from his teammates like Jake Piccirilli (149) and Zach Shaffer (Hwt). Jovaun Johnson (184) and Bryce Walker (197) each spent time in my rankings this season and have the potential to score points in St Louis. The person I think could be a real difference-maker for the Braves is Rashaan Vereen (165). He pushed Mitch Dean (Belmont Abbey) in the finals and at this weight, Dean is one of the best. If he joins Daggett on the podium, it could be the start of a big tournament for this program. A big tournament that unfortunately will not result in them challenging for a team trophy. Outlook: Pretender University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown National Qualifiers: 6 Super Regional Champions: 3 The dean of Division II wrestling Pat Pecora has done it again. His Mountaincats are once again Super Regional I champions and more than that, they are sending six wrestlers to the national tournament. After not wrestling in 2021 until the Super Regional tournament, his team took full advantage of the extended season and grew stronger. I am going to give you a sneak peek now, but Jacob Ealy (149) is my dark horse national champion at his weight. This team could put wrestlers on the podium at 141 (Caleb Morris) and 165 (Dillon Keane). Brock Biddle (174) is a multiple-time All-American himself and could be the key component of a UPJ run at a trophy. But much like Indianapolis and some of the other pretenders, I just worry they lack the firepower needed to compete with the real favorites. Sorry coach, I love our talks. Outlook: Pretender

3x NCAA All-American Chad Red Jr received an at-large berth to the 2022 NCAA Championships (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) These wrestlers will head to Detroit to compete at the 2022 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships, along with the ones who automatically qualified for the tournament over the weekend. 125 lbs Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) Joe Manchio (Columbia) Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) Noah Surtin (Missouri) Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) 133 lbs Kyle Burwick (Wisconsin) Malyke Hines (Lehigh) Dom LaJoie (Cornell) Dom Zaccone (Campbell) 141 lbs Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) Parker Filius (Purdue) Chad Red Jr (Nebraska) Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) Joe Zargo (Wisconsin) 149 lbs Jaden Abas (Stanford) Josh Edmond (Missouri) PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 157 lbs Michael Petite (Buffalo) Hunter Richard (Cornell) Chase Saldate (Michigan State) Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 165 lbs Caleb Fish (Michigan State) Will Formato (Appalachian State) Brian Meyer (Lehigh) Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) 174 lbs Chris Foca (Cornell) Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) Bailee O'Reilly (Minnesota) Sal Perrine (Ohio) 184 lbs Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) Max Lyon (Purdue) Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) DJ Washington (Indiana) 197 lbs JT Brown (Army West Point) Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) Will Feldkamp (Clarion) Jaron Smith (Maryland) 285 lbs Matt Cover (Princeton) Tyrell Gordon (Northern Iowa) Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) Brandon Metz (North Dakota State) Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia)

2022 Big 12 champion Missouri Tigers (photo courtesy of Mark Lundy; LutteLens.com) After a long hiatus away from the Big 12 conference, Missouri has returned with a vengeance to take back their crown that they won the last time they were in the conference. The early rounds saw Oklahoma State with an edge as they piled up wins in their first-round bouts, along with a decent quarterfinal round that pushed six into the semifinals and included two head-to-head wins over Missouri. Then after the semifinals, where Oklahoma State pushed another four into the finals and won one first round consolation match, they still held the team point lead. But Missouri and Oklahoma went to work on the consolation side. Missouri won six first round consolation matches and four in the second round while Oklahoma State only won one first round match and didn't win any in the second round. Oklahoma quietly stormed back into the conversation as well, keeping all ten guys in the tournament and going 7-0 in both the first and second consolation rounds. This helped them surpass Oklahoma State and get within striking distance of Missouri heading into day two. To start the second day, Oklahoma needed a little help and had to wrestle nearly perfect on the consolation side to overtake Missouri. They wrestled solid, but so did Missouri and it ultimately just wasn't enough to get in contention. The Sooners grabbed one third place finish, a few fourths, a fifth, and sixth, which ultimately couldn't catch them up with Missouri, who got third place finishes from the Elam brothers and a few other medal match wins that locked in the team title for them going into the finals. The team race was already decided going into the finals, but there were still champions to be crowned. At 125 West Virginia got a champion as Killian Cardinale controlled Brody Teske to an 8-3 decision. Oklahoma State got a title at 133 Daton Fix won his third Big 12 championship with a 6-2 decision over Northern Iowa's Kyle Biscoglia. Andrew Alirez made history for Northern Colorado by winning the program's first-ever individual Big 12 title at 141. He beat Allan Hart 6-4. At 149, it was Bedlam as OSU's Kaden Gfeller and OU's Willie McDougald squared off. Gfeller managed to push a few stall calls on McDougald to get a 2-1 decision and his second Big 12 title. At 157 NCAA Champion David Carr dominated his way to another Big 12 title with an 8-2 win over North Dakota State's Jared Franek. At 165 Keegan O'Toole was tested a bit more than normal, but picked up a 13-7 decision over West Virginia's Peyton Hall. Dustin Plott used a late takedown and rideout to pick up his first Big 12 title and Parker Keckeisen had a dominant major decision win over Missouri's Jeremiah Kent. Stephen Buchanan won the toughest weight in the Big 12 with a 3-2 decision over South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan. Heavyweight got off to a wild start as Luke Surber took #1 seed Wyatt Hendrickson down early and put him on his back. Hendrickson recovered, escaped, took Surber down and put him on his back. It was all Hendrickson from there as he dominated his way to a major decision and the Air Force Academy's first Big 12 title. Final team scores 1) Missouri 131.5 2) Oklahoma 113 3) Iowa State 110 4) Oklahoma State 107.5 5) Northern Iowa 100 6) South Dakota State 66 7) North Dakota State 62 7) West Virginia 62 9) Wyoming 57.5 10) Air Force 45 11) Northern Colorado 35.5 12) Utah Valley 34 Championship Finals 125 - Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) dec Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) 8-3 133 - Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) dec Kyle Biscoglia (Northern Iowa) 6-2 141 - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec Allan Hart (Missouri) 6-4 149 - Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State) dec Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) 2-1 157 - David Carr (Iowa State) dec Jared Franek (North Dakota State) 8-2 165 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) dec Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 13-7 174 - Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) dec Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 4-3 184 - Peyton Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) maj Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) 13-3 197 - Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) dec Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 3-2 285 - Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) maj Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 16-6 Third Place Bouts 125 - Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) dec Joey Prata (Oklahoma) 4-1 133 - Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State) dec Sidney Flores (Air Force) 8-5 141 - Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) dec Dylan Droegemueller (North Dakota State) 7-5 149 - Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) dec Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) 8-6 157 - Jacob Wright (Wyoming) dec Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) 6-5TB 165 - Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec Luke Weber (North Dakota State) 6-5 174 - Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) dec Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 6-3 184 - Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) maj Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) 19-6 197 - Rocky Elam (Missouri) dec Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 6-1 285 - Zach Elam (Missouri) dec Sam Schuyler (Iowa State) 6-1 Fifth Place Bouts 125 - Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) maj Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) 19-6 133 - Haiden Drury (Utah Valley) dec Tony Madrigal (Oklahoma) 2-1 141 - Ian Parker (Iowa State) dec Jacob Butler (Oklahoma) 8-7 149 - Josh Edmond (Missouri) maj Dylan Martinez (Air Force) 17-8 157 - Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec Derek Holschlag (Northern Iowa) 3-1SV 165 - Joe Grello (Oklahoma) dec Isaac Judge (Iowa State) 6-2 174 - Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) MedFFT Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 184 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) dec DJ Parker (North Dakota State) 13-10 197 - Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) MedFFT Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) 285 - AJ Nevills (South Dakota State) dec Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) 5-4TB Seventh Place Bouts 125 - Noah Surtin (Missouri) dec Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) 5-3SV 133 - Connor Brown (Missouri) fall Gabe Tagg (South Dakota State) 5:53 141 - Carter Young (Oklahoma State) dec Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 7-4 149 - Gaven Sax (North Dakota State) dec Jeffrey Boyd (West Virginia) 12-5 157 - Alex Hornfeck (West Virginia) dec Kenny O'Neill (South Dakota State) 8-2 165 - Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) fall Nick Knutson (Northern Colorado) 2:25 174 - Joel Devine (Iowa State) dec Dennis Robin (West Virginia) 6-0 184 - Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) fall Anthony Carman (West Virginia) 1:40 197 - Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) dec Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) 7-4 285 - Michael Wolfgram (West Virginia) dec Brandon Metz (North Dakota State) 3-1 Automatic Qualifiers by Team Air Force: (2) Sidney Flores (125); Wyatt Hendrickson (285) Iowa State: (8) Ramazan Attasaouv (133); Ian Parker (141); Jarrett Degen (149); David Carr (157); Joel Devine (174); Marcus Coleman (184); Yonger Bastida (197); Sam Schuyler (285) Missouri: (7) Allan Hart (141); Jarrett Jacques (157); Keegan O'Toole (165); Peyton Mocco (174); Jeremiah Kent (184); Rocky Elam (197); Zach Elam (285) North Dakota State: (4) Dylan Droegemueller (141); Jared Franek (157); Luke Weber (165); Owen Pentz (197) Northern Colorado: (2) Jace Koelzer (125); Andrew Alirez (141) Northern Iowa: (7) Brody Teske (125); Kyle Biscoglia (133); Colin Realbuto (149); Derek Holschlag (157); Austin Yant (165); Lance Runyon (174); Parker Keckeisen (184) Oklahoma: (9) Joey Prata (125); Tony Madrigal (133); Jacob Butler (141); Willie McDougald (149); Justin Thomas (157); Anthony Mantanona (174); Keegan Moore (184); Jake Woodley (197); Josh Heindselman (285) Oklahoma State: (6) Trevor Mastrogiovanni (125); Daton Fix (133); Carter Young (141); Kaden Gfeller (149); Dustin Plott (174); Luke Surber (285) South Dakota State: (4) Clay Carlson (141); Cade DeVos (174); Tanner Sloan (197); AJ Nevills (285) Utah Valley: (3) Taylor LaMont (125); Haiden Drury (133); Evan Bockman (197) West Virginia: (3) Killian Cardinale (125); Peyton Hall (165); Dennis Robin (174) Wyoming: (3) Jacob Wright (157); Hayden Hastings (174); Stephen Buchanan (197)

2022 EIWA champion Vito Arujau (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022 EIWA Championships Team Scores 1) Cornell 153 2) Penn 143 3) Princeton 120.5 4) Lehigh 111 5) Columbia 84.5 6) Binghamton 79.5 7) Navy 63.5 8) Army West Point 57 9) Harvard 49 10) Drexel 47 11) Bucknell 39.5 12) Hofstra 36 13) Franklin & Marshall 29 14) Brown 26.5 15) American 25.5 16) Sacred Heart 5 17) Long Island 3 Championship Finals 125 - Vito Aruaju (Cornell) maj Patrick Glory (Princeton) 19-6 133 - Michael Colaiocco (Penn) dec Josh Koderhandt (Navy) 8-4 141 - Matt Kazimir (Columbia) dec CJ Composto (Penn) 6-4 149 - Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) maj Anthony Artalona (Penn) 11-2 157 - Quincy Monday (Princeton) dec Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 9-4 165 - Phil Conigliaro (Harvard) dec Josh Ogunsanya (Columbia) 8-3 174 - Mickey O'Malley (Drexel) dec Nico Incontera (Penn) 1-1RTTB 184 - Jonathan Loew (Cornell) dec Travis Stefanik (Princeton) 12-5 197 - Louie DePrez (Binghamton) dec Luke Stout (Princeton) 10-4 285 - Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec Lewis Fernandes (Cornell) 2-0 Third Place Bouts 125 - Ryan Miller (Penn) maj Joe Manchio (Columbia) 10-2 133 - Dom Lajoie (Cornell) dec Jack Maida (American) 4-0 141 - Wil Gil (Franklin & Marshall) dec Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 10-5 149 - Max Brignola (Lehigh) dec Marshall Keller (Princeton) 5-3 157 - Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) maj Markus Hartman (Army West Point) 10-0 165 - Zach Hartman (Bucknell) maj Julian Ramirez (Cornell) 16-3 174 - Ben Pasiuk (Army West Point) dec Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 3-1SV 184 - AJ Burkhart (Lehigh) dec Charles Small (Hofstra) 3-2 197 - Jake Koser (Navy) maj Cole Urbas (Penn) 9-0 285 - Joe Doyle (Binghamton) dec Ben Goldin (Penn) 4-0 Fifth Place Bouts 125 - Beau Bayless (Harvard) MedFFT Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) 133 - Richard Treanor (Army West Point) dec Nick Kayal (Princeton) 9-8 141 - Darren Miller (Bucknell) dec Ryan Anderson (Binghamton) 2-1TB 149 - Danny Fongaro (Columbia) MedFF PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) 157 - Doug Zapf (Penn) dec Hunter Richard (Cornell) 5-3 165 - Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) dec Lucas Revano (Penn) 3-2 174 - Jake Logan (Lehigh) MedFFT Chris Foca (Cornell) 184 - Neil Antrassian (Penn) dec Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) 13-8 197 - Jacob Cardenas (Cornell) dec JT Davis (Lehigh) 4-1 285 - Matt Cover (Princeton) dec Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) 3-1 Seventh Place Bouts 125 - Brandon Seidman (Bucknell) dec Reese Fry (Brown) 9-4 133 - Jaxon Maroney (Drexel) dec Nicky Cabanillas (Brown) 7-5SV 141 - Danny Coles (Princeton) dec Justin Hoyle (Hofstra) 11-5 149 - Lukus Stricker (Harvard) dec Nick Lombard (Binghamton) 8-2 157 - Nick Delp (Bucknell) dec Trevor Tarsi (Harvard) 3-1 165 - Evan Barczak (Drexel) dec Val Park (Navy) 5-0 174 - Nick Fine (Columbia) fall Nate Dugan (Princeton) 6:24 184 - Brian Bonino (Columbia) dec Cory Day (Binghamton) 3-2 197 - JT Brown (Army West Point) dec Sam Wustefeld (Columbia) 4-1 285 - Cenzo Pelusi (Franklin & Marshall) dec Dan Conley (Columbia) 3-1SV Automatic Qualifiers by Team Army West Point: (2) Markus Hartman (157); Ben Pasiuk (174) Binghamton: (4) Brevin Cassella (165); Jacob Nolan (174); Louie DePrez (197); Joe Doyle (285) Bucknell: (1) Zach Hartman (165) Columbia: (2) Matt Kazimir (141); Josh Ogunsanya (165) Cornell: (6) Vito Arujau (125); Yianni Diakomihalis (149); Julian Ramirez (165); Jonathan Loew (184); Jacob Cardenas (197); Lewis Fernandes (285) Drexel: (2) Evan Barczak (165); Mickey O'Malley (174) Franklin & Marshall: (1) Wil Gil (141) Harvard: (1) Phil Conigliaro (165) Lehigh: (5) Connor McGonagle (141); Max Brignola (149); Josh Humphreys (157); AJ Burkhart (184); Jordan Wood (285) Navy: (3) Josh Koderhandt (133); Andrew Cerniglia (157), Jake Koser (197) Penn: (9) Ryan Miller (125); Michael Colaiocco (133); CJ Composto (141); Anthony Artalona (149); Doug Zapf (157); Lucas Revano (165); Nick Incontrera (174) Cole Urbas (197); Ben Goldin (285) Princeton: (5) Patrick Glory (125); Marshall Keller (149) Quincy Monday (157); Travis Stefanik (184); Luke Stout (197)

2022 Pac-12 champion Michael McGee (photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 2022 Pac-12 Championships Team Scores 1) Arizona State 115 2) Oregon State 114.5 3) Stanford 97 4) Cal Poly 88.5 5) CSU Bakersfield 83 6) Little Rock 71 Championship Finals 125 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) dec Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 5-3 133 - Michael McGee (Arizona State) dec Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 7-2 141 - Real Woods (Stanford) maj Grant Willits (Oregon State) 8-0 149 - Kyle Parco (Arizona State) dec Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 11-5 157 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) dec Hunter Willits (Oregon State) 3-1SV 165 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly) dec Shane Griffith (Stanford) 8-7 174 - Tyler Eischens (Stanford) dec Adam Kemp (Cal Poly) 4-3 184 - Trey Munoz (Oregon State) fall Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) 1:14 197 - Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) maj Ryan Reyes (Oregon State) 14-6 285 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) dec Gary Traub (Oregon State) 2-1 Third Place Matches 125 - Logan Ashton (Stanford) dec Jayden Carson (Little Rock) 3-1 133 - Devan Turner (Oregon State) dec Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 6-1 141 - Mykey Ramos (Arizona State) dec Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 5-4 149 - Cory Crooks (Arizona State) fall Jaden Abas (Stanford) 6:23 157 - Charlie Darracott (Stanford) dec Brock Rogers (CSU Bakersfield) 6-2 165 - Matt Olguin (Oregon State) dec Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) 6-4SV 174 - Triston Wills (Little Rock) dec Albert Urias (CSU Bakersfield) 8-1 184 - Jacob Hansen (CSU Bakersfield) maj Josh Nummer (Arizona State) 13-4 197 - Josh Loomer (CSU Bakersfield) fall Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 2:12 285 - Jacob Sieder (CSU Bakersfield) maj Josiah Hill (Little Rock) 12-2 Fifth Place Matches 125 - Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) dec Eddie Flores (CSU Bakersfield) 8-2 133 - Jaylen Carson (Little Rock) dec Abe Hinrichsen (Cal Poly) 7-1 141 - Lawrence Saenz (Cal Poly) InjDef Conner Ward (Little Rock) 149 - Joey Bianchi (Little Rock) MedFFT Josh Brown (CSU Bakersfield) 157 - Brawley Lamer (Cal Poly) dec Chase Tebbets (Little Rock) 7-2 165 - Tyler Brennan (Little Rock) fall Augustine Garcia (CSU Bakersfield) 2:29 174 - Aaron Olmos (Oregon State) dec Ryan Rochford (Arizona State) 13-7 184 - Tanner Mendoza (Little Rock) dec Nick Addison (Stanford) 5-4 197 - Trent Tracy (CSU Bakersfield) tech Brooks Sacharczyk (Little Rock) 16-0 285 - Peter Ming (Stanford) MedFFT Sam Aguilar (Cal Poly) Automatic Qualifiers by Team Arizona State: (6) Brandon Courtney (125); Michael McGee (133); Kyle Parco (149); Jacori Teemer (157), Kordell Norfleet (197), Cohlton Schultz (285) Cal Poly: (4) Legend Lamer (149), Evan Wick (165); Adam Kemp (174); Bernie Truax (184) CSU Bakersfield: (1) Chance Rich (133) Oregon State: (8) Brandon Kaylor (125); Devan Turner (133); Grant Willits (141); Cory Crooks (149); Hunter Willits (157); Matt Olguin (165); Trey Munoz (184); Gary Traub (285) Stanford: (4) Logan Ashton (125); Real Woods (141); Shane Griffith (165); Tyler Eischens (174)

2022 ACC champion Trent Hidlay (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022 ACC Championships Team Scores 1) NC State 98.5 2) Virginia Tech 76 3) Pittsburgh 51 4) North Carolina 48 5) Virginia 39.5 6) Duke 11 Championship Finals 125 - Jakob Camacho (NC State) dec Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 3-1 133 - Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) dec Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) 4-2 141 - Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) dec Ryan Jack (NC State) 3-2 149 - Tariq Wilson (NC State) dec Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 10-4 157 - Ed Scott (NC State) dec Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 3-2 165 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) dec Justin McCoy (Virginia) 7-0 174 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 4-2 184 - Trent Hidlay (NC State) maj Gavin Kane (North Carolina) 11-0 197 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) dec Isaac Trumble (NC State) 5-2 285 - Nathan Traxler (Virginia Tech) dec Tyrie Houghton (NC State) 9-6 Third Place Bouts 125 - Patrick McCormick (Virginia) dec Spencer Moore (North Carolina) 2-1 133 - Kai Orine (NC State) dec Joe Heilmann (North Carolina) 5-3 141 - Dylan Cedeno (Virginia) dec Collin Gerardi (Virginia Tech) 7-5 149 - Zach Sherman (North Carolina) MedFFT Josh Finesilver (Duke) 157 - Jake Keating (Virginia) dec Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 6-1 165 - Thomas Bullard (NC State) dec Clayton Ulrey (Virginia Tech) 1-0 174 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State) dec Matt Finesilver (Duke) 7-6 184 - Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) fall Gregg Harvey (Pittsburgh) 1:42 197 - Jay Aiello (Virginia) maj Max Shaw (North Carolina) 8-0 285 - Quinn Miller (Virginia) dec Brandon Whitman (North Carolina) 4-1 Fifth Place Bouts 133 - Brian Courtney (Virginia) tech Drake Doolittle (Duke) 15-0 157 - Elijah Cleary (Pittsburgh) dec Wade Ungar (Duke) 5-3 184 - Michael Battista (Virginia) dec Vincent Baker (Duke) 12-6 Automatic Qualifiers by Team Duke: (2) Josh Finesilver (149); Matt Finesilver (174) NC State: (10) Jakob Camacho (125); Kai Orine (133); Ryan Jack (141); Tariq Wilson (149); Ed Scott (157); Thomas Bullard (165); Hayden Hidlay (174); Trent Hidlay (184); Isaac Trumble (197); Tyrie Houghton (285) North Carolina: (5) Joe Heilmann (133); Zach Sherman (149); Austin O'Connor (157); Clay Lautt (174); Gavin Kane (184) Pittsburgh: (6) Micky Phillippi (133); Cole Matthews (141); Elijah Cleary (157); Jake Wentzel (165); Gregg Harvey (184); Nino Bonaccorsi (197) Virginia: (8) Patrick McCormick (125); Brian Courtney (133), Dylan Cedeno (141); Jake Keating (157); Justin McCoy (165); Michael Battista (184); Jay Aiello (197); Quinn Miller (285) Virginia Tech: (8) Sam Latona (125): Korbin Myers (133), Collin Gerardi (141); Bryce Andonian (149); Connor Brady (157); Mekhi Lewis (174); Hunter Bolen (184); Nathan Traxler (285)

2022 Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022 Big Ten Championships Final Results Team Scores 1) Michigan 143 2) Penn State 141.5 3) Iowa 129.5 4) Ohio State 91.5 5) Northwestern 90.5 6) Minnesota 78.5 7) Nebraska 75.5 8) Wisconsin 68 9) Rutgers 41 10) Purdue 36.5 11) Illinois 34.5 12) Michigan State 33 13) Maryland 15.5 14) Indiana 4 Championship Finals 125 - Nick Suriano (Michigan) maj Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 12-4 133 - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 3-1 141 - Nick Lee (Penn State) MedFFT Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) 149 - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) dec Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 8-5 157 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec Will Lewan (Michigan) 7-2 165 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec Cameron Amine (Michigan) 2-1 174 - Carter Starocci (Penn State) dec Logan Massa (Michigan) 5-1 184 - Myles Amine (Michigan) dec Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 6-4SV 197 - Max Dean (Penn State) dec Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 4-2 285 - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) MedFFT Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) Third Place Bouts 125 - Patrick McKee (Minnesota) dec MIchael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 3-1 133 - Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) dec Lucas Byrd (Illinois) 3-1SV 141 - Jakob Bergeland (Minnesota) dec Stevan Micic (Michigan) 4-0 149 - Max Murin (Iowa) MedFFT Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 157 - Brady Berge (Penn State) dec Kaleb Young (Iowa) 3-1SV 165 - Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) dec Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 4-2SV 174 - Ethan Smith (Ohio State) MedFFT Troy Fisher (Northwestern) 184 - Zac Braunagel (Illinois) dec Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 3-1SV 197 - Patrick Brucki (Michigan) dec Jacob Warner (Iowa) 3-1 285 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) dec Mason Parris (Michigan) 5-3 Fifth Place Bouts 125 - Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) MedFFT Devin Schroder (Purdue) 133 - Chris Cannon (Northwestern) MedFFT Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) 141 - Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) MedFFT Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) 149 - Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) MedFFT Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) 157 - Peyton Robb (Nebraska) maj Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 8-0 165 - David Ferrante (Northwestern) MedFFT Bubba Wilson (Nebraska) 174 - Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) MedFFT Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 184 - Taylor Venz (Nebraska) dec Kyle Cochran (Maryland) 6-3 197 - Thomas Penola (Purdue) dec Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) 3-2 285 - Lucas Davison (Northwestern) dec Luke Luffman (Illinois) 3-1 Seventh Place Bouts 125 - Dylan Shawver (Rutgers) MedFFT Drake Ayala (Iowa) 133 - Matt Ramos (Purdue) dec Jake Gliva (Minnesota) 3-2 141 - Frankie Tal-Shahar (Northwestern) dec Parker Filius (Purdue) 11-6 149 - Beau Bartlett (Penn State) dec Kanen Storr (Michigan) 3-1 157 - Garrett Model (Wisconsin) dec Chase Saldate (Michigan State) 7-0 165 - Cael Carlson (Minnesota) fall Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 2:41 174 - Dom Solis (Maryland) dec Connor O'Neill (Rutgers) 10-4 184 - Abe Assad (Iowa) MedFFT Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota) 197 - Greg Bulsak (Rutgers) dec Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) 6-1 285 - Christian Lance (Nebraska) dec Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 3-2 Automatic Qualifiers by Team Illinois: (4) Justin Cardani (125); Lucas Byrd (133); Zac Braunagel (184); Luke Luffman (285) Indiana: (1) Brock Hudkins (133) Iowa: (10) Drake Ayala (125); Austin DeSanto (133); Jaydin Eierman (141); Max Murin (149); Kaleb Young (157); Alex Marinelli (165); Michael Kemerer (174); Abe Assad (184); Jacob Warner (197); Tony Cassioppi (285) Maryland: (2) Dom Solis (174); Kyle Cochran (184) Michigan: (9) Nick Suriano (125); Dylan Ragusin (133); Stevan Micic (141); Will Lewan (157); Cameron Amine (165); Logan Massa (174); Myles Amine (184); Patrick Brucki (197); Mason Parris (285) Michigan State: (3) Rayvon Foley (133); Layne Malczewski (184); Cameron Caffey (197) Minnesota: (8) Patrick McKee (125); Jake Gliva (133); Jakob Bergeland (141); Michael Blockhus (149); Cael Carlson (165); Isaiah Salazar (184); Michal Foy (197); Gable Steveson (285) Nebraska: (7) Ridge Lovett (149), Peyton Robb (157); Bubba Wilson (165); Mikey Labriola (174); Taylor Venz (184); Eric Schultz (197); Christian Lance (285) Northwestern: (9) Michael DeAugustino (125); Chris Cannon (133); Frankie Tal-Shahar (141), Ryan Deakin (157); David Ferrante (165); Troy Fisher (174); Jack Jessen (184); Andrew Davison (197); Lucas Davison (285) Ohio State: (8) Malik Heinselman (125); Dylan D'Emilio (141); Sammy Sasso (149); Carson Kharchla (165); Ethan Smith (174); Kaleb Romero (184); Gavin Hoffman (197); Tate Orndorff (285) Penn State: (9) Drew Hildebrandt (125); Roman Bravo-Young (133); Nick Lee (141); Beau Bartlett (149); Brady Berge (157); Carter Starocci (174); Aaron Brooks (184); Max Dean (197); Greg Kerkvliet (285) Purdue: (4) Devin Schroder (125); Matt Ramos (133); Kendall Coleman (157); Thomas Penola (197) Rutgers: (7) Dylan Shawver (125); Joey Olivieri (133), Sebastian Rivera (141); Mike Van Brill (149); Connor O'Neill (174); John Poznanski (184); Greg Bulsak (197) Wisconsin: (7) Eric Barnett (125); Austin Gomez (149); Garrett Model (157); Dean Hamiti (165); Chris Weiler (184); Braxton Amos (197); Trent Hillger (285)

2022 MAC Champion Caleb Hopkins (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) 2022 SoCon Championships Final Results Team Scores 1) Campbell 100.5 2) Appalachian State 95 3) Chattanooga 79 4) Gardner-Webb 51 5) The Citadel 38.5 6) Davidson 12.5 7) VMI 12 8) Presbyterian 6.5 Championship Finals 125 - Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) dec Korbin Meink (Campbell) 3-1 133 - Codi Russell (Appalachian State) dec Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) 7-4 141 - Shannon Hanna (Campbell) dec Heath Gonyer (Appalachian State) 10-4TB 149 - Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) dec Josh Heil (Campbell) 5-4 157 - Dazjon Casto (The Citadel) dec Cody Bond (Appalachian State) 5-4 165 - Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) dec Drew Nicholson (Chattanooga) 4-3 174 - Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State) dec Austin Murphy (Campbell) 3-2TB 184 - Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) dec Jha'Quan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 8-3 197 - Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) dec Chris Kober (Campbell) 3-1 285 - Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) dec Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) 3-1SV Third Place Matches 125 - Caleb Smith (Appalachian State) dec Benny Gomez (Presbyterian) 8-1 133 - Dom Zaccone (Campbell) maj Todd Carter (Gardner-Webb) 11-3 141 - Franco Valdes (Chattanooga) fall Trevon Majette (Gardner-Webb) 4:51 149 - Noah Castillo (Chattanooga) dec Brandon Bright (Gardner-Webb) 4-1 157 - JoJo Aragona (Campbell) dec Taylor Parks (Gardner-Webb) 4-2 165 - Will Formato (Appalachian State) maj Troy Nation (Campbell) 11-1 174 - Ben Haubert (The Citadel) dec Carial Tarter (Chattanooga) 4-2 184 - Barrett Blakely (Appalachian State) dec Thomas Sell (Chattanooga) 6-4 197 - Anthony Perrine (Gardner-Webb) dec Tyler Mousaw (VMI) 5-1 285 - Michael Burchell (Appalachian State) maj Mitchell Trigg (Davidson) 16-6 True Second Place 133 - Brayden Palmer (Chattanooga) maj Dom Zaccone (Campbell) 17-6 165 - Drew Nicholson (Chattanooga) dec Will Formato (Appalachian State) 6-2 Automatic Qualifiers by Team Appalachian State (3) Codi Russell (133); Jonathan Millner (149); Thomas Flitz (174) Campbell (5) Korbin Meink (125); Shannon Hanna (141); Josh Heil (149); Caleb Hopkins (184); Taye Ghadiali (285) Chattanooga (4) Fabian Gutierrez (125); Brayden Palmer (133); Drew Nicholson (165); Matthew Waddell (197) Gardner-Webb (1) Rodrick Mosley (165) The Citadel (2) Dazjon Casto (157); Michael McAleavey (285)

Penn State 149 lber Beau Bartlett (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Win and you're in! Lose and pray for an at-large selection. In a separate piece, we'll outline all the former All Americans and top-ranked guys that are at the mercy of the selection committee (141 is particularly a mess). But here we're going to focus on what's on tap for Sunday morning. After Day I of wrestling at Big Ten's and Big 12's, there are tons of pivotal match ups and NCAA berths on the line, many of which are important for the country's top teams. Below are our favorite 'go-to' bouts in Lincoln and Tulsa, followed by a complete list. Big 12 141 - 7th Place Carter Young, Oklahoma State vs. Ty Smith, Utah Valley OK State has been devastated with injuries. They lost reigning NCAA Champ AJ Ferrari after a car accident and returning AA's Wyatt Sheets and Travis Wittlake failed to qualify on Saturday. They need Young, a true freshman, to keep another potential point earner in the lineup for Detroit. Oh yeah….the two met in the opening round and Smith won, 6-2. Big 12 149 - Consi Semi Jarrett Degen, Iowa State vs. Josh Edmond, Missouri Two traditional powers look to add a qualifier for Nationals. They are ranked #21 and #22 respectively, and Degen won the matchup 9-7 a month ago. Big 12 184 - Consi Semi Dakota Geer, Oklahoma St. vs. Keegan Moore, Oklahoma Whoa, Nellie! What a situation. Two guys, in their last go-round, from the Bedlam series, who used to be teammates. Moore utterly stunned Geer two weeks ago in the dual when he won handily, but Geer has been more productive (if inconsistent) over the course of their careers. Big Ten 149 - 7th Place Beau Bartlett, Penn State vs. Kanen Storr, Michigan Bartlett didn't qualify for NCAA's last year and is on the cusp again. He beat Michael Blockhus (who is in) but then lost to Austin Gomez and Mike Van Brill. Dealing with an injury almost all season, Storr was pinned by Van Brill in his opening round bout before beating Yahya Thomas. He then lost to Blockhus. It's an enormous match between the two teams currently leading the B1G team race. The Complete List of All Other "Win and You're In" Matches Big Ten 125: Drew Hildebrandt, PSU vs. Jacob Moran, Indiana Big Ten 125: Tristan Lujan, Michigan State vs. Justin Cardani, Illinois Big Ten 133: Brock Hudkins, Indiana vs. Kyle Burwick, Wisconsin Big Ten 133: Dom Serrano, Nebraska vs. Joey Olivieri, Rutgers Big Ten 141: Frankie Tal-Shahar, Northwestern vs. Parker Filius, Purdue Big Ten 149: Colin Realbuto, Northern Iowa vs. Dylan Martinez, Air Force Big Ten 157: Chase Saldate, Michigan State. vs. Garrett Model, Wisconsin Big Ten 165: Cael Carlson, Minnesota vs. Caleb Fish, Michigan State Big 12 165: Isaac Judge, Iowa State vs. Luke Weber, North Dakota State Big 12 165: Austin Yant, Northern Iowa vs. Joe Grello, Oklahoma Big 12 184: DJ Parker, North Dakota State vs. Marcus Coleman, Iowa State Big Ten 197: Braxton Amos, Wisconsin vs. Michial Foy, Minnesota Big Ten 197: Jaron Smith, Maryland vs. Andrew Davison, Northwestern Big 12 197: Evan Bockman, Utah Valley vs. Alan Clothier, Northern Colorado

2022 MAC Champion Anthony Noto (right) (photo courtesy of Lock Haven athletics) 2022 MAC Championships Final Results Team Scores 1) Lock Haven 123.5 2) Central Michigan 108 3) Northern Illinois 93 4) Buffalo 92.5 5) Clarion 79.5 6) Cleveland State 73.5 7) Kent State 71.5 8) Rider 68 9) Ohio 61.5 10) SIU Edwardsville 52 11) George Mason 47 12) Bloomsburg 42 13) Edinboro 30.5 Championship Finals 125 - Anthony Noto (Lock Haven) dec Joey Fischer (Clarion) 3-1SV 133 - Richie Koehler (Rider) dec Derek Spann (Buffalo) 4-1 141 - Quinn Kinner (Rider) dec Josh Mason (Bloomsburg) 4-1 149 - Kody Komara (Kent State) fall Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 4:02 157 - Ben Barton (Lock Haven) dec Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 2-1 165 - Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) dec Ashton Eyler (Lock Haven) 7-5SV 174 - Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) dec Sal Perrine (Ohio) 7-5 184 - Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) maj Colin McCracken (Kent State) 8-0 197 - Ben Smith (Cleveland State) fall Will Feldkamp (Clarion) 2:07 285 - Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec Isaac Reid (Lock Haven) 4-2 Third Place Matches 125 - Jake Ferri (Kent State) dec Brock Bergelin (Central Michigan) 7-5 133 - Gable Strickland (Lock Haven) dec Gio DiSabato (Ohio) 4-3 141 - Gabe Willochell (Edinboro) dec Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) 2-0 149 - Corbyn Munson (Central Michigan) dec John Arceri (Buffalo) 1-0 157 - Michael Petite (Buffalo) dec Jordan Slivka (Ohio) 4-3 165 - Riley Smucker (Cleveland State) dec Tracy Hubbard (Central Michigan) 2-1 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Logan Messer (George Mason) 4-3 184 - Kyle Davis (George Mason) dec DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) 3-1SV 197 - Aaron Bolo (Central Michigan) dec Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) 9-3 285 - Tyler Bagoly (Clarion) dec Toby Cahill (Buffalo) 7-3 Fifth Place Matches 125 - Tristan Daugherty (Buffalo) dec Oscar Sanchez (Ohio) 4-3TB 133 - Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) fall Aaron Schulist (SIU Edwardsville) :58 141 - Seth Koleno (Clarion) dec Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) 5-2 149 - DaShawn Farber (Lock Haven) MedFFT Alex Madrigal (George Mason) 157 - Alex Carida (Bloomsburg) maj Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) 14-3 165 - Joe Casey (Rider) MedFFT Noah Grover (Buffalo) 174 - Bret Fedewa (Central Michigan) dec John Worthing (Clarion) 11-4 184 - Max Wohlbaugh (Clarion) dec Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) 3-2 197 - Tyler Bates (Kent State) dec Cody Mulligan (Edinboro) 3-2 285 - Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec David Szuba (Rider) 6-4 Seventh Place Matches 125 - Bryce West (Northern Illinois) dec Austin Macias (SIU Edwardsville) 8-5 133 - Jake Manley (Cleveland State) maj Vince Perez (Central Michigan) 12-3 141 - Louis Newell (Kent State) dec Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) 5-3 149 - Alec Hagan (Ohio) dec Caleb Tyus (SIU Edwardsville) 4-3 157 - Avery Bassett (George Mason) dec Cole McComas (Rider) 8-1 165 - Kolby Ho (Clarion) MedFFT Brady Chrisman (Kent State) 174 - Tyler Stoltzfus (Lock Haven) maj Anthony Rice (Cleveland State) 8-0 184 - Peter Acciardi (Buffalo) fall Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville) 7:56SV 197 - Parker McClellan (Lock Haven) FFT Carson Brewer (Ohio) 285 - Terrese Aaron (Northern Illinois) dec Max Millin (Edinboro) 3-1 True Second Place 174 - Jay Nivison (Buffalo) dec Sal Perrine (Ohio) 3-2 184 - Colin McCracken (Kent State) dec Kyle Davis (George Mason) 9-4 Automatic Qualifiers by Team Bloomsburg (1) Josh Mason (141) Buffalo (2) John Arceri (149); Jay Nivison (174) Central Michigan (3) Corbyn Munson (149); Johnny Lovett (157); Matt Stencel (285) Cleveland State (3) Marcus Robinson (149); Riley Smucker (165); Ben Smith (197) Edinboro (1) Gabe Willochell (133) Kent State (2) Kody Komara (149); Colin McCracken (184) Lock Haven (5) Anthony Noto (125); DaShawn Farber (149); Ben Barton (157); Ashton Eyler (165); Isaac Reid (285) Northern Illinois (3) Izzak Olejnik (165); Mason Kauffman (174); Brit Wilson (285) Rider (2) Richie Koehler (133); Quinn Kinner (141)

174 lb Big Ten Semifinals with Logan Massa and Mikey Labriola (photos courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com) Most pundits thought that the 2022 Big Ten Championships would be a two-horse race between top-ranked Penn State and #2 Iowa. Unfortunately, no one told #3 Michigan. After one day of action, the Wolverines lead the top-two teams in the nation and have five wrestlers in the finals. Michigan holds a 5.5 point lead over Penn State, who is just 2.5 points ahead of Iowa. Penn State also has five finalists, while Iowa has four. Michigan's finals run started with Nick Suriano in the opening bout of tonight's semifinals. Suriano pinned two-time conference finalist Devin Schroder (Purdue) to move into his second Big Ten final. He previously won the tournament in 2019, while at Rutgers, during his NCAA title-winning season. Suriano will take on the third seed, Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), who dispatched Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern), 3-0. Will Lewan, at 157 lbs, was Michigan's second finalist. He and Brady Berge (Penn State) engaged in a tactical affair with few committed attempts. It wasn't until sudden victory where Lewan was able to penetrate Berge's defense for the winning takedown, 3-1. Lewan's opponent will be Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), who is seeking his third Big Ten championship. The only weight where a number one seed failed to make the finals occurred at 165 lbs, when top-seeded Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) was clipped in sudden victory, 3-1, by Cam Amine (Michigan). A match later, the crowd at the Pinnacle Bank Arena was treated to perhaps the most entertaining bout of the day. Second-seeded Logan Massa (Michigan) and the third, Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), got into a shootout with plenty of offense, defense, scrambles, and everything in between. Massa was the last man standing in a 7-6 win. That sets the stage for a national #1 vs #2 match at 174 lbs, as Carter Starocci (Penn State) advanced to the finals after a medical forfeit by Michael Kemerer (Iowa). That is also the case at 184 lbs as #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) is slated to take on #2 Myles Amine (Michigan). The two met earlier this season in a hotly contested bout, won by Brooks, 3-1. Brooks handled longtime rival, Taylor Venz (Nebraska), while Amine got by a game Kaleb Romero (Ohio State). The other national #1 vs. #2 bout on tap for Sunday comes at 141 lbs with Nick Lee (Penn State) and Jaydin Eierman (Iowa). The two met in last year's final and Eierman prevailed; however, Lee turned the tables in the NCAA finals. Eierman was the recipient of a medical forfeit from Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers), while Lee turned in a technical fall against Jacob Bergeland (Minnesota). Penn State also has finalists at 133, with Roman Bravo-Young and Max Dean at 197. Bravo-Young also has a rematch of his 2021 Big Ten final with Austin DeSanto (Iowa). The mercurial Hawkeye survived a physical, back-and-forth affair with Lucas Byrd (Illinois) to advance. Dean gets the hometown favorite, Eric Schultz (Nebraska). The Cornhusker faithful saw three of their wrestlers fall in the semis, before Schultz broke through with a 3-2 win over Patrick Brucki (Michigan). This evening was a rare occasion where the fans stayed around to watch the big men and they were treated to a good one between Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) and Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State). Kerkvliet appeared to be in control with a 4-2 lead in the waning seconds. The Hawkeye initiated a scramble and managed to secure a reversal just a second before Kerkvliet would have locked up riding time. That sent the bout into sudden victory where Cassioppi took advantage and won, 6-4. Cassioppi will have his hands full in the title bout with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson (Minnesota). Steveson faced his 2021 Big Ten and NCAA finals opponent, Mason Parris (Michigan), in the semis. The Gopher star kept his bonus point streak intact with a 14-6 major decision. The only championship bout that does not include the top-three teams occurs at 149 lbs, as Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) squares off with Austin Gomez (Wisconsin). Sasso used a third-period takedown to get by Max Murin (Iowa), 3-1. That was the opposite of Gomez's result. He silenced the home crowd by tossing Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) to his back in the opening seconds and locked up a fall with only :20 seconds elapsed. Team Scores 1) Michigan 116 2) Penn State 111.5 3) Iowa 109 4) Ohio State 72 5) Northwestern 70.5 6) Nebraska 65 7) Wisconsin 58.5 8) Minnesota 55.5 9) Rutgers 37 10) Purdue 34.5 11) Michigan State 33 12) Illinois 26.5 13) Maryland 14.5 14) Indiana 4 125 Semi - Nick Suriano (Michigan) fall Devin Schroder (Purdue) 2:40 125 Semi - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) dec Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 3-0 125 lb Big Ten Final - #1 Nick Suriano (Michigan) vs. #3 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 133 Semi - Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) dec Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 4-0 133 Semi - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) dec Lucas Byrd (Illinois) 4-3 133 lb Big Ten Final - #1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. #2 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 141 Semi - Nick Lee (Penn State) tech Jake Bergeland (Minnesota) 16-1 141 Semi - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) MedFFT Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 141 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Nick Lee (Penn State) vs. #2 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) 149 Semi - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) dec Max Murin (Iowa) 3-1 149 Semi - Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) fall Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) :20 149 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs. #2 Austin Gomez (Wisconsin) 157 Semi - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 5-3 157 Semi - Will Lewan (Michigan) dec Brady Berge (Penn State) 3-1SV 157 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) vs. #3 Will Lewan (Michigan) 165 Semi - Cameron Amine (Michigan) dec Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) 3-1 165 Semi - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec Dean Hamiti (Wisconsin) 3-2 165 lbs Big Ten Final - #2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs. #4 Cameron Amine (Michigan) 174 Semi - Carter Starocci (Penn State) MedFFT Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 174 Semi - Logan Massa (Michigan) dec Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) 6-5 174 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #2 Logan Massa (Michigan) 184 Semi - Aaron Brooks (Penn State) dec Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 7-2 184 Semi - Myles Amine (Michigan) dec Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 4-2 184 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #2 Myles Amine (Michigan) 197 Semi - Max Dean (Penn State) dec Cam Caffey (Michigan State) 7-2 197 Semi - Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec Patrick Brucki (Michigan) 3-2 197 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) vs. #2 Max Dean (Penn State) 285 semi - Gable Steveson (Minnesota) maj Mason Parris (Michigan) 14-6 285 semi - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) dec Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 6-4SV 285 lbs Big Ten Final - #1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. #2 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)