NCAA Wrestling Championships Preview 2018

The 2018 season has run its course with a variety of dual meets, open tournaments (Midlands, Southern Scuffle, Cliff Keen, etc), and Conference Qualifying Championships. Now, the "Big Dance" is set at Cleveland. There are 55 returning All-Americans of the 330 qualifying wrestlers all hoping to be among the 80 recognized podium winners at this year's championships. (Brackets)

Here is my preview of the 3 day event:

Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State and Nick Lee of Iowa are two contenders at this year's Championships at 125 lbs.; where will they end up on the podium?

125 lbs.

Ohio State's #2 Nathan Tomasello is the returning champion from 2015, a 4-Tme Big Ten Champion, and 3-Time All-American with a 95-7 record over four seasons at 125 lbs. and 133 lbs. #1 Darian Cruz is the defending 2017 NCAA Champion, 3-Time EIWA Champ with a 116-18 record over four seasons at 125 lbs., and has a 47 bout winning streak. Both guys are "cat-quick" and superb on their feet. #4 Nick Suriano is undefeated in his Senior year after transferring from Penn State, and NCAA Runner-Ups in 2015 and 2017 loom as threats with Zeke Moisey of West Virginia and Ethan Lizak of Minnesota. Other returning All-Americans included Nick Piccinni of Oklahoma State, Sean Russell of Edinboro, and Ryan Millhof of Arizona State. #5 Sean Fausz of North Carolina State and Brock Hudkins of Northern Illinois made the Round of 12 in 2017 while both Ronnie Bresser Rios of Oregon State and Barlow McGree, #8 seed in 2016, also made the Round of 12 that season. Some of the "new kids on the block" that threaten to earn spots on the podium include Freshmen #3 Spencer Lee of Iowa, #7 Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley, #10 Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern, and #12 Louie Hayes of Virgnia. Tomasello avenged a dual meet loss to Lee, 3-2, with a late 3rd period takedown to win, 2-1. Tomasello defeated Lizak, 10-7, after teching him earlier in the season, and Nathan also handled Fausz, 12-6. Cruz and Suriano are undefeated, but Suriano defaulted out of the competition after earning only one win at the Big Ten Conference Tournament due to injury; Suriano defeated Rivera twice, 4-1, and 7-6, and beat tough Ronnie Bresser, 2-1, plus Zeke Moisey, 6-0, at the Midlands. Bresser avenged an earlier loss to Millhof, 9-4, when he won the PAC-12 Championship, 3-2. Both Bresser and Fausz lose to Oklahoma State Redshirt Freshman, Daton Fix, by 2-1 verdicts; Fix is redshirting behind Big Twelve Champ Piccininni who has a 11 bout winning streak coming in the tournament. Piccininni has only lost to Lee, 10-5, Fausz, 9-5, and Lizak, 10-9; he defeated Cruz, 8-5, at the All-Star Classic. Rivera has only lost to Lee twice, 12-0, and 7-4, Suriano twice, 7-6, and 4-1, and Lizak, 3-2. Russell lost to Piccininni, 3-1, Lee, 15-0, Rivera, 6-0, LaMont, 4-3, and Drew Mattin of Michigan, 6-3. LaMont lost to Moisey, 8-5, Fausz, 8-3, and Hayes, 6-4. Ryan Millhof lost to Cruz, 8-3, #16 Jacob Schwarm of Northern Iowa, 8-6, and was pinned by Mattin. Michael McGee of Old Dominion avenged an earlier season loss, 4-3, to Hudkins to win the MAC Championships, 3-1, in a tiebreaker. I am predicting quarterfinals with Cruz vs. Lizak, Fausz vs. Suriano, Lee vs. Piccininni, and Rivera vs. Tomasello with semi-finals matchups between Cruz vs. Suriano and Tomasello vs. Lee, and a final of Tomasello vs. Suriano with a Tomasello win. I have LaMont, Russell, Moisey, and Rios in the Round of 12, but losing. There are some tremendous Freshman to watch out for including Rayvon Foley, Michigan State's only NCAA qualifier, Drew Mattin, Connor Brown of South Dakota State, etc., and others who are redshirting include Brandon Courtney of Arizona State, Brent Fleetwood of North Dakota State (transfer from Central Michigan), and Shakur Laney of Ohio Univ.

Darian Cruz of Lehigh after winning the 2017 NCAA title at 125 lbs.; will he be a Two-Time Champion?

Returning Placewinners

Predicted Placewinners

133 lbs.

Seth Gross of South Dakota State defeated Stevan Micic, 7-1, on November 5, 2017 at the All-Star Classic at Princeton, NJ

At 133 lbs., #1 Seth Gross, the 2017 NCAA Runner-Up, is undefeated with the exception of a loss to Bryce Meredith of Wyoming, 2-1, at 141 lbs; the former Iowa transfer was dismissed from the Hawkeye squad for burglery in 2015. #2 Micic placed 3rd in 2017, and his only losses this season where to #3 Luke Pletcher of Ohio State, 7-5; he avenged the loss with two wins, 11-4, and 7-4, to give the Buckeye his only two losses of the season. Micic's only other loss was to #7 Austin DeSanto of Drexel, 22-10, at the Cliff Keen Invitational in December. Returning All-American #4 Kaid Brock lost to Gross, 8-5, #8 Montorie Bridges of Wyoming, 11-10, and #6 Scott Parker of Lehigh, 9-8; he avenged the loss to Bridges, 6-2, at the Big Twelve Championships. Parker lost to #11 Dom Forys of Pittsburgh, 7-6, Rico Montoya of Northern Colorado, 11-9, and Isaac Jiminez of Air Force, 3-1, in overtime. #10 Jack Mueller of Virginia lost to #9 Dennis Gustafson of Virginia Tech, 11-7, for the ACC Championship, Redshirt Freshman Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State, 9-4, #15 Ali Naser of Arizona State, 10-7, and#12 Josh Terao of American, 6-0. Forys lost to Mueller, 6-0, Gross by tech, 16-0, DeSanto, 11-9, and Terao, 6-4; this is Dom's 4th year to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and thus far hasn't placed. #5 John Erneste of Missouri lost to Brock, 8-7, and Mueller, 9-2. Gustafson lost to Forys, 4-1, twice to #14 Korbin Myers of Edinboro, 6-4 and 7-6, Naser, 7-4, DeSanto, 5-4, and Erneste, 11-2, and Parker, 3-1, in overtime. Redshirt Freshman Bridges has losses to Pletcher, 8-6, DeSanto, 7-3 and Montoya by pin along with the loss to Brock. Corey Keener of Penn State is another 4-time NCAA qualifier; the first three seasons for Central Michigan. My quarterfinal predictions are for matchups between Gross vs. Bridges, Erneste vs. Brock, Pletcher vs. Forys, and Mueller vs. Micic, and in the Semifinals it's be Gross vs. Brock and Pletcher vs. Micic with Gross over Micic in the final. I've got Erneste, #Bridges, #13 Bryan Lantry of Buffalo, and #16 Mitch McKee of Minnesota dropping Round of 12 bouts to just miss the podium.

Returning Placewinners

Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State, can he make the finals?

Predicted Placewinners

141 lbs.

Bryce Meredith and Dean Heil; Meredith gained the "mental edge" in 2018 after two wins over the Two-Time NCAA Champion

At 141 lbs., even though Dean Heil is a Two-Time returning NCAA Champion, he is not the favorite, and is seeded #6; when was the last time that happened at this event??? Bryce Meredith of Wyoming comes in as the #1 seed with two wins of Heil, 6-5, and 2-1 in tiebreaker; Meredith's only loss this season officially was to Super Frosh #3 Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell, 4-2, in overtime. #2 Jaydin Eierman pinned Heil late in the second period in a late January dual, and his only loss on the season came to Meredith, 3-2, in December. Meredith also lost to Kevin Jack of North Carolina State, 8-7, at the All-Star match in November. #5 Jack was surprised by Redshirt Freshman Brent Moore of Virginia Tech at the ACC Championships, 6-4, in overtime, after being teched by him, 15-0, in a dual meet two weeks earlier; he also lost to #4 Joey McKenna of Ohio State, 6-2, and Meredith, 4-3. McKenna was unscored upon at the Big Ten Championships rolling over opponents, 39-0; his only loss after transferring from Stanford was to returning All-American, Tommy Thorn of Minnesota, 13-3. Diakomihalis has one one loss, and that was to Eierman, 9-6. #8 Freshman Nick Lee of Penn State was surprised by Redshirt Feshman Mike Carr of Illinois, 10-6, at the Big Ten Championships; his only other losses came to McKenna, 7-6, Diakomihalis, 12-7, #7 Brock Zacherl of Clarion, 6-4, and he was pinned by Redshirt Freshman, Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State. Zacherl's only loss of the season came in a shocking pin at the EWL Championships by Evan Cheek of Cleveland State. #9 Josh Alber of Northern Iowa has only losses to Heil, 2-0 and 4-1, Eierman, 12-6, Diakomihalis, 8-2 and 5-2, and pinned by Lee. #10 Mason Smith of Central Michigan has been shutout twice by Eierman including by tech, and his only other defeats came to Meredith, 7-3, Kanen Storr of Iowa State, 7-1, who just transferred to Virginia, and Mike Longo of Oklahoma, 6-3. This is Tyler Smith's 4th year to qualify for this event. My predictions at this weight included quarterfinal pairings with Meredith vs. Lee, Jack vs. McKenna, Diamakihalis vs. Heil, Smith vs. Eirman, and semifinals with Meredith vs. McKenna and Diamokihalis vs. Eierman; in the final, I'm going with a surprise, Eierman to upset Meredith. I'm picking Nate Limmex of Purdue, Carr, #12 Tyler Smith of Buckell, and Alber to make the Round of 12, but just miss spots on the podium.

Super Frosh Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell

Returning Placewinners

149 lbs.

At 149 lbs. #1 Zain Retherford of Penn State has no competition for the 2018 NCAA Championship; the 2017 World Team member will win his third title in a row, and he comes to Cleveland with a 121-3 record with all three losses in his freshman season, two to World Champion Logan Stieber, 7-3, and a 3-1 overtime loss to Mitchell Port. He has an 88 bout winning streak. #2 Brandon Sorenson of Iowa has two losses to Retherford, 2-0 and 6-2 this season with two losses last season, 9-8, in tiebreaker and by pin, and two more losses in 2016, 10-1, and 4-0. #3 Grant Leith of Missouri has losses to #8 Boo Lewallen, 7-4, and Davion Jeffries, 3-1, at the Linwood Open in November. #5 KeShawn Hayes of Ohio State has two losses to Retherford, 10-0, and by teach, 20-4; he also lost to Sorenson, 4-2, Eleazar Deluca of Rutgers, 12-6, and #4 Troy Heilmann of North Carolina, 10-8. Heilmann has losses to Ryan Blees of Virginia Tech, 3-1, in overtime, Leeth, 6-3, #6 Justin Oliver of Central Michigan, 9-7, and Michael Sprague of American, 6-4, in overtime. Returning All-American #9 Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa has losses to Lewallen, 9-3, Leeth, 4-3, Heilmann, twice by 3-2, Hayes, 4-3, Josh Heil of Campbell, 3-2, and Sam Krivus of Virginia, 3-2. Returning All-American and EIWA Champion #11 Matt Kolodzik of Princeton has losses to former NCAA Champion, #10 Jason Tsirtsis, 5-4, Oliver, 6-1, Hayes, 2-0, Zachary Krause of Brown, 7-4, and Redshirt Edinboro Transfer Pat Lugo of Iowa by pin. Oliver was humbled twice at the MAC Championships by Kyle Springer of Eastern Michigan, 8-6, in overtimee, and with a first period pin by Nolan Baker (2-11) of Northern Illinois to place 4th after being seeded second; otherwise, his only other losses this season came to Sorenson, 4-2, Leith, 3-1, and All-American Solomon Chishko of Virginia Tech, 3-1, who was beat out by Oklahoma State transfer, Ryan Blees, for the Hokies. Lewallyn has losses to Sorenson by tech, 23-8, Thomsen, 3-1, Leeth, 8-4, Tsirtsis, 3-2, and Beau Donahue of North Carolina State, 6-4, in overtime. Tsirtsis has lost to Cortlandt Schuyler of Lehigh, 11-3, Thomsen, 3-1, Sorenson, 3-1 in overtime, #7 Ryan Deakin of Northwestern, 5-3, teammate Chris Pagdilao, 8-4, and Justin Thomas of Oklahoma, 3-1. My picks for quarterfinal pairings include: Retherford vs. Lewellyn, Hayes vs. McCrystal, Leeth vs. Oliver, and Deakin vs. Sorenson with Retherford vs. Hayes and Oliver vs. Sorenson in the semifinals; Retherford and Sorenson should compete in the finals with Zain capturing his 3rd title. I also picked Ronnie Perry of Lock Haven, Kolodzik, Heilmann, and Jared Prince of Navy to battle back to the Round of 12 before falling.

Penn State's Zain Retherford is in a class by himself as a World Team member participating at the NCAA Championships

Returning Placewinners

Jason Nolf of Penn State and Joey Lavallee of Missouri; will episode 2 be at Cleveland?

157 lbs.

At 157 lbs., returning NCAA Champion, #3 Jason Nolf, has been nursing a knee injury since January 28; if he is 100%, most observers believe he'd be the winner, but his aggressive, constantly moving and attacking style is hindered with the injury. #1 Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State enters as the favorite with an undefeated season; however, the redshirt freshman hasn't had the competition or "quality" wins, but he did prevail over #2 Joey Lavallee of Missouri, 3-1, in overtime, and #7 Micah Jordan, 6-3. #6 Michael Kemerer was pinned by Jordan while leading 1-0 after a previously undefeated season. Jordan has three losses to #5 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan, 3-1, 12-7, and 10-3, Kemerer, 8-4, and #4 Josh Shields of Arizona State, 7-4. Shields has only two losses, 5-2, to Kemerer, and 8-6 to Jordan in overtime with a win over Pantaleo, 4-3, in November. Pantaleo lost to Nolf, 6-4, Ian Brown of Lehigh, 7-5, Andrew Crone of Wisconsin, 3-0, and Colin Heffernan of Central Michigan, 6-4, in overtime. Clayton Ream of North Dakota State has qualified for the NCAA Championships four times. My selections here are: Hidlay vs. Berger, Pantaleo vs. Shields, Nolf vs. Kemerer, and Jordan vs. Lavallee in the quarterfinals with Hidlay vs. Pantaleo and Nolf vs. Lavallee for semifinals, and Nolf over Pantaleo in the finals. I've also picked #10 Markus Scheidel of Columbia, Crone, Archie Colgan of Wyoming, and Luke Zilverberg of South Dakota State to make the Round of 12.

Returning Placewinners

Undefeated Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State

Predicted Placewinners

165 lbs.

At 165 lbs., #1 Isaiah Martinez will go for his 3rd title at Cleveland after being denied a 3rd by #3 Vincenzo Martinez at last year's Championships when he was pinned after an undefeated season. Martinez is undefeated in 14 bouts this season, and triumphed over Joseph, 4-1, at the Big Ten Championships. Martinez has only been beaten twice since his redshirt freshman season in 2014; Jason Nolf and Joseph both pinned him, but Martinez avenged both defeats handling Nolf in the 2016 NCAA Finals, 6-5. Joseph's only other loss came to #5 Alex Marinelli of Iowa, 9-6. #2 David McFadden is also undefeated, 31-0, but doesn't have the quality wins competing in the ACC; however, he is a returning All-American from 2016 after a redshirt year in 2017. Marinelli lost twice to #7 Logan Massa of Michigan at the Big Ten Championships, 6-3 and 8-6 in overtime, and #6 Richie Lewis of Rutgers, 7-5. Massa sustained a knee injury on December 1 at the Cliff Keen Invitational during an 8-4 loss to Evan Wick; during his recovery, he lost to Marinelli, 3-2, Nick Wanzek of Minnesota, 14-8, Joseph, 5-4 and 12-3, and Wick, 4-3, but feel he is close to 100% for Cleveland. #4 Chad Walsh of Rider avenged an earlier loss to Oklahoma State transfer, Chance Marsteller, of Lock Haven, 8-4, with a 2-1 win at the Eastern Wrestling League Championships. Marsteller's old teammate, Chandler Rogers, is hoping to get reacquainted with Marsteller in the second round; Rogers only has lost to Marinelli, 5-2, McFadden, 4-3, and #14 Brandson Ashworth of Wyoming, 6-2. Andrew Atkinson of Virginia and Jonathan Schleifer of Princeton have qualified for the NCAA Championships four times. My picks for the quarterfinals are: Martinez vs. Rogers, Marinelli vs. Walsh, Joseph vs. Lewis, and Massa vs. McFadden, and in the semifinals, Martinez vs. Walsh and Massa vs. Joseph; in the finals it's be Martinez over Massa. In the "blood round," the losers will be Wick, Gordon Wolf of Lehigh, Wanzek, and May Bethea of Penn.

Returning Placewinners

Predicted Placewinners

174 lbs.

Mark Hall and Zahid Valencia are both undefeated this season

At 174 lbs., there are three undefeated wrestlers at this weight, #1 Mark Hall, the returning NCAA Champ, #1 Zahid Valencia of Arizona State, and #3 Daniel Lewis of Missouri. Valencia beat Hall at the All-Star meet in November, 3-2, but lost in the 2017 NCAA Semi-Finals, 4-3; they were both members of the 2017 Junior World Team together with Hall winning a gold medal while Valencia settled for a silver medal. Valencia has been undefeated in the last two seasons with the sole loss to Hall, and during his redshirt year in 2016, Valencia only lost to Hayden Zillmer of North Dakota State, 4-3, and David Taylor at the 2015 Midland's by tech, 15-0. Hall's only losses last season came to Bo Jordan of Ohio State, 6-4, in overtime, Alex Meyer of Iowa, 7-5, and Christian Brucki of Central Michigan, 8-7. Lewis lost at last year's NCAA Championships to Vincenzo Joseph at 165 lbs., 6-5, and Chandler Rogers of Oklahoma State, 9-6, while losing to Rogers by pin, Bryce Steiert of Northern Iowa by pin, and Isaiah Martinez of Illinois, 7-4. Jordan has lost twice to #5 Myles Amine of Michigan by pin and 6-5, twice to Valencia, 9-6 and 9-4, and Hall, 6-4. #4 Jordan Kutler of Lehigh won the EIWA Championship, and his only losses came to Valencia, 11-4, Hall, 4-0 and 3-2, while handling Amine, 5-4. Amine has lost twice to Hall, 4-3 and 6-5, Jordan, 6-4, and Dylan Lydy of Purdue, 6-4. #9 Taylor Lujan of Northern Iowa lost to Lewis, 13-10, Valencia, 14-6 and 9-6, Kutler, 8-4, and Amine, 12-8. Jadean Bernstein of Navy and Tyrel White of Columbia are putting forth their fourth attempt to be recognized on the podium. My quarterfinal predictions are Valencia vs. Bernstein, Amine vs. Kutler, Lewis vs. Jordan, and Lujan vs. Hall with semifinals Valencia vs. Amine and Jordan vs. Hall; the finals put Valencia over Hall. In the Round of 12, Johnny Sebastian of Northwestern, Yoanse Meijias of Oklahoma, Jacobe Smith of Oklahoma State, and Keaton Sujeck of Stanford are near misses for the podium.

Returning Placewinners

184 lbs.

Bo Nickal of Penn State and Myles Martin of Ohio State are both NCAA Champions

At 184 lbs., #1 Bo Nickal is undefeated this season, and hasn't been beaten since #2 Myles Martin of Ohio State, the NCAA Champion in 2016, upset him at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, 6-4; he has two wins over Martin this season, 7-4 and 10-2. #3 Ryan Preisch of Lehigh lost to Nickal, 3-2, and missed nearly two months after a December injury; he defeated #5 Domenic Abounader of Michigan, 3-1, in November. #4 Pete Renda of North Carolina State avenged a 3-2 loss to #6 Zack Zavatsky with a 4-0 win at the ACC Championships; Renda's only other loss was to Martin, 8-1. Zavatsky lost to #7 Taylor Venz of Nebraska, 9-3, Abounader, 8-0, Preisch, 4-2 and teammate Nick Reenan, 8-6, in overtime. #9 Max Dean of Cornell lost to Preisch by pin at the EIWA Championship finale, and his only other losses were to Zavatsky, 9-5, and #8 Drew Foster of Northern Iowa, 9-5. Foster lost to Nickal, 10-2, Venz by pin, #11 Ricky Robertson of Wisconsin, 2-0, and Dean, 9-7. Venz has lost three times to Abounader, 7-3, 6-4, and 9-5, #14 Nick Gravina of Rutgers, 9-3, #10 Emery Parker of Illinois, 9-7, Renda, 9-6, and Martin by tech, 19-4. Abounader, Robertson and Jordan Ellingwood of Central Michigan have qualified for the NCAA Championships four times. My quarterfinal matchups are Nickal vs. Foster, Abounader vs. Renda, Preisch vs. Michael Coleman of Navy, and Venz vs. Martin; in the semifinals, it's be Nickal vs. Abounader and Preisch vs. Martin with Nickal over Martin in the final. Losers in the Round of 12 are Parker of Illinois, Keegan Moore of Oklahoma State, Zavatsky, and Coleman.

Returning Placewinners

197 lbs.

Kollin Moore of Ohio State is focused on a NCAA Championship at Cleveland

At 197 lbs., #1 Kollin Moore of Ohio State has lost to #4 Michael Machiavellos of North Carolina State, 7-5, and Shakur Rasheed of Penn State, 8-4. Machiavello lost to #3 Jared Haught of Virginia Tech, 6-4 in overtime and 2-1 and #9 Preston Weigel of Oklahoma State, 5-4. #2 Ben Darmstadt of Cornell lost to #7 Frank Mattiace of Penn, 14-6, but avenged the loss twice, 9-1 and 10-0, to capture the EIWA Championship. Haught has lost by pin to Moore and #6 Willie Miklus of Missouri. Miklus was defeated by Darmstadt, 9-0, and Dan Chaid of North Carolina, 2-1, in overtime; he got some good news just days before the event as the NCAA granted him a 6th year of eligibility for 2019. #5 Shakur Rasheed of Penn State beat out teammate Anthony Cassar, and has only lost to Moore, 8-4, Darmstadt, 8-4, and Kyle Conel of Kent State, 3-2. I'm picking Moore vs. Weigel, Rasheed vs. Macciavello, Haught vs. Miklus and Mattiace vs. Darmstadt in the quarters with Moore vs. Macciavello and Miklus vs. Darmstadt in the semis; Moore beats Darmstadt in the final. #10 Scotty Boykin of Tennessee-Chattanooga, #11 Corey Griego of Oregon State, #13 Jared Kasunic of American and #8 Nate Rotert of South Dakota State all make the "blood round," but fail to advance to the podium. Rotert and Jacob Smith of West Virginia are four-time NCAA qualifiers.

Michael Machiavello and Frank Mattiace are contenders at this weight; will Machiavello get Machiavellian?

Willie Miklus of Missouri is fully recovered from his knee injury with a 6th year of eligibility for 2019

Returning Placewinners

285 lbs.

Olympic and World Champion Kyle Snyder of Ohio State learned not to tie up with Adam Coon of Michigan as he landed on his back in the February dual meet

Olympic and World Champion #1 Kyle Snyder will go for his 3rd NCAA Championship after finishing runner-up in his freshman year at 197 lbs. to Kyven Gadsen of Iowa State. #2 Adam Coon of Michigan gave Snyder his only loss of the past three seasons in a February dual, 3-1; until then, Snyder's only losses came to Gadsen, 3-2, Nathan Burak of Iowa, 3-2, and Morgan McIntosh of Penn State, 4-1 in his freshman season. Coon has losses to Snyder, 4-2 in overtime and 7-4, Three-Time NCAA Champion Nick Gwiazdowski, 3-2 and 7-6, Ty Walz, 3-2, Conor Medbery, 7-3, Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State, 7-4, Bobby Telford of Iowa, 3-2 in overtime, Jeremy Johnson of Ohio, 3-1 in overtime, Nick Tavanello of Ohio State, 6-5, Jon Gingrich of Penn State, 3-1 in overtime, and Michael McClure of Michigan State, 5-1. He avenged the losses to Walz, Medbery, Telford, and Marden, and was NCAA Runner-Up in 2016 after placing 3rd in 2015 with a record of 112-14. #6 Amarveer Dhesi came off an earlier season injury to win the PAC-12 Championship with a major decision over #7 Nathan Butler of Stanford, 11-2, and rides an 11 bout win streak coming into this event including a 9-5 win over #8 Tanner Hall of Arizona State. #3 Nick Nevills of Penn State has two losses to Snyder, 14-5 and 15-10, Coon, 8-0, Butler, 2-0, and #14 Michael Boykin of North Carolina State, 4-3. #4 Jacob Kapsner of Duke hasn't lost since December when he was pinned by Hall; he also lost to Nevills, 3-1. #11 Michael Hughes of Hofstra lost to Jordan Wood of Lehigh, 2-1, in overtime, Kasper, 2-0, and Nevills, 4-1. #5 Sam Stoll of Iowa lost to Nevills, 5-2 and 3-2, and Coon by pin and 3-2. Hall lost to Butler, 2-1, in overtime and 3-2, in overtime, Coon, 4-2 in overtime and 5-2, and Stoll, 2-1; he also lost to Nevills in the All-Star Meet, 2-0. Garrett Ryan of Columbia and Butler are four year NCAA qualifiers. My picks for the quarterfinals are Snyder vs. Hall, Kasper vs. Stoll, Dhesi vs. Nevills, Butler vs. Coon with semifinal matchups, Snyder vs. Kasper and Dhesi vs. Coon with Snyder over Coon in the finale. In the Round of 12, I'm expecting to see Conan Jennings of Northwestern, Hughes, Youssif Hemida of Maryland, and Derek White of Oklahoma State not advance to the podium.

Predicted Placewinners

Team

Big Ten Champion Ohio State is the favorite to win the team title; Coach Ryan's Buckeyes have won the Big Ten three of the past four seasons, and hold a slight edge over Cael Sanderson's Penn State squad. The Buckeyes qualified their entire squad, and are expected to have four finalists and three champions at the ten weights. Penn State has nine qualifiers, and are expected to have four finalists with three champions; however, they do have five returning NCAA Champions. There is a good chance that the team battle should most likely be won in consolations. The Big Ten has has 88 qualifiers which is almost 27% of all qualifiers at Cleveland. The Big Ten's third place finisher, Michigan, is expected to battle MAC Champion Missouri and Big Twelve Champion Oklahoma State for 3rd place; the Tigers have won the MAC seven seasons in a row, and the Cowpokes have won six conference titles in a row. EIWA Champion Lehigh upset EIWA Runner-Up Cornell after an eleven year reign as conference champions; those two along with Iowa, ACC Runner-Up North Carolina State and PAC-12 Champion Arizona State are expected to round out the Top 10. South Dakota State, Illinois, Nebraska, Wyoming, Northern Iowa, and ACC Champion Virginia Tech should also be factors in the team race. Most of the other teams represented have one or two qualifiers that may "make some noise" at the event.