Big Ten’s were awesome!!! Very very awesome. I successfully ate as many kinds of cheese as I possibly could, as well as ate some Ian’s Pizza, as was recommended by a Badger friend of mine. All in all it was a good time, but it took it’s toll. My typically stellar immune system got beat up and I ended up getting sick. However, I am back at it and ready to make some bold predictions for this tournament and walk all that are interested, to walk through my thought process. Please join me, as we begin with the little dudes.
125 – First of all, the seeding for this entire tournament is screwed up. It’s as if they looked at the rankings from mid December and just said, “Ok, looks good to me”, and set them up that way. Delgado (Illinois), despite being the defending national champ, has two losses, compared to Garrett (Cornell), who has 1. One of Delgado’s losses is to a backup from Iowa (albeit a very very good backup). The point is, this isn’t the only weight class where they messed these up, so sorry for the inevitable redundancy. I still see Delgado, Garrett, and Megaludis (Penn State) making the semi’s. I know that Josh Martinez (Air Force), the 4 seed, is tough, but I see him losing to Evan Silver of Stanford. I watched a lot of Silver in High School, and I know he is a gamer, let alone wrestling Ryan Mango every single day. I also see Tim Lambert of Nebraska getting past Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa, and ultimately into the semi’s by defeating Silver. The Big Ten at 125 is a GRIND. For that matter, the Big Ten at any weight is going to be really tough, but I believe that experience that Lambert got will help him surprise some of the guys from the lesser conferences and ultimately into the semi’s where he will lose to Delgado. This puts Megaludis against Nashon Garrett in the other semi final match. This match has already happened twice this year, both times with Garrett coming out on top. I don’t see it ending much differently this time either. Garrett is too quick for Megaludis and can get to his offense much more effectively. Unfortunately for Megaludis, it appears that this, like the last two years, isn’t going to be his year. This ends up with Delgado, my preseason favorite and defending NCAA champion, against Nashon Garrett. I think that Delgado is quick enough to get to his offense against Garrett, and he is going to be able to take advantage of some of Garrett’s aggressiveness by hitting his low single when Garrett is walking into tie ups. Ultimately Garrett probably should have been the 1 seed, but the fact of the matter is that his one loss this year is to Delgado, 6-2. Delgado is like a water bug, just making these quick movements all around the mat. He backs up a lot, but he usually fires off a shot that is timed perfectly with where his opponent is going to step. Jesse Delgado gets his second NCAA title right here.
133 – I don’t know why, but I don’t trust Joe Colon (Northern Iowa). I watched him pin Ramos in the midlands finals, but I feel like he just caught him when he wasn’t ready. I haven’t seen him do much else this year, although he clearly has dominated most of his opponents. Ultimately I see him in the semi’s against Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State), but I think that it will come down to the coaching in that match, and as it turns out, John Smith has done a really good job coaching his Oklahoma State kids at NCAA’s. On the other side of the bracket, I have Tony Ramos (Iowa) losing in the quarter finals to Ryan Mango of Stanford. Mango is HUGE for 133, and only has 3 losses on the season. All of his losses came around the same time of the year, so I’m not sure if he was sick, or injured, or what, but I know that he is a better wrestler than those three losses would indicate. Ramos has always been a little undersized at 133, and I just don’t see him making it out of this match. I watched Ramos struggle mightily against Quiroga of Purdue and in the Big Ten Finals against Graff, so I don’t think that he is anywhere as tough as I had thought he would have been at this time of year. I have Mango meeting AJ Schopp of Edinboro in that semi final. AJ Schopp is a long and lanky wrestler, who is like a python in the top position. He just throws legs and claw rides, and then your wrist is gone, so you go to get it back but OH NO, you are in a half… And you can’t breathe. At Big Tens, I decided that fighting Mike Evans (Iowa 174) would be the last thing that I would ever try to do, choosing bottom against Schopp is a close second. I see him beating Mango and meeting Morrison in the finals. Realistically, I know that my pick to have Morrison in the finals would require him to upset Colon who is solid, but I don’t also see Morrison beating Schopp. If Schopp gets on top, it’s over, so I see him being this years champ at 133.
141 – Logan Stieber (Ohio State) exacted his revenge against Zain Retherford (Penn State). It was about as fun to watch as I figured it would be. As someone who was born and raised in Ann Arbor, to have Logan Stieber be as enjoyable to watch for me, certainly says something about his style and ability. I pointed Stieber out to a guy that I went to Big Tens with that doesn’t follow College Wrestling as closely as I do. “Watch the OSU guy, he is going to take this dudes arms off of his body”, I said before the match started. Logan proceeded to bar arm this kid for about 4:30 minutes until the match was over. Tech fall. Anyway, back to the predictions. Mitchell Port (Edinboro) had a phenomenal year. After placing second to Kendrick Maple (Oklahoma) at 141 last year, he entered the year ranked behind Logan Stieber, who bumped up to 141 from 133. Once Stieber was upset by Retherford, Port rightfully took his spot at the top and has yet to lose a match. I see him cruising to the finals, ultimately beating Richard Durson of Franklin and Marshall in the semi’s. I know that Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) is back and that Devin Carter is really really good. I’m just not sure that he would be undefeated if he had to wrestle the whole year, or what kind of shape he is in. Durso beats him in the quarters, ultimately losing to Port in the semis. On the other side, I want another Stieber vs Retherford match, and I see Stieber getting another victory over the tough Freshman. Frankly nobody on the bottom half of the bracket looks like they are going to get an upset over these two. In the finals, I see Stieber doing what he does well, which is win National Championships.
149 – This weight class was a travesty when it comes to seeding the tournament correctly. Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) has 3 losses, won the Big Ten, and is seedes 5th. Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska)took second in the Big Ten, is seeded 6th. Dardanes (Minnesota), has 3 losses, took 3rd in the Big Ten, and is seeded 2nd. Kendrick Maple (Oklahoma) has 4 losses, and is somehow seeded 4th. Remember when I said that Maple was overrated and that I didn’t think he was going to win this year? Yeah, I still feel good about that prediction. He could lose first round to Tywan Claxton of Ohio. Anyway, this is a mess, so let’s get started. Drake Houdashelt has proven this year that he is a force. When he pinned Dardanes… The two seed… it was one of the more impressive wins that I have seen in a while, taking advantage of the extended mat with this years new rules.
Ultimately I see him getting through Grajales (Michigan), though it pains me to say so, on his way to a semi final win over Jason Tsirtsis. Tsirtsis can beat Maple in the quarterfinals, but Houdashelt is crafty, and I see him getting the win to set himself up in the finals. In the bottom half of the bracket, I see Chris Villalonga of Cornell being upset by Sueflohn in the quarters. Also, I have a feeling that Dardanes loses to Suefloh as well. Everytime I watch Sueflohn wrestle, I am impressed with his tenacity and apparent inability to stop working to improve. Dardanes has skated through a couple of close ones recently and I see him losing this one. In the finals, I just think that Houdashelt is going to outclass Sueflohn and beat him pretty handily. Though Sueflohn has a really cool last name for wrestling, Drake has a bad ass first name for anything.
157 – James Green (Nebraska) was my original prediction for this title and he will continue to be until shortly after he graduates from Nebraska in 2015. With that being said, He gets through Ian Miller of Kent State in the semi finals. Miller is tough as nails, and I certainly hope he wins an NCAA championship in the future, but this is not his year and he has some time. This weight class has the top 4 seeds correct and I see St. John (Iowa) beating Dieringer (Oklahoma State) one last time on his way to one last loss to Green. He is too good on his feet for St. John and takes advantage of St. John’s propensity to stalk. Green wins the title, gets booed by all the Iowa fans, doesn’t care, then probably does it all again next year.
165 – This one isn’t going to take very long either. David Taylor is going to do what he does best. His career went this way, lost in the NCAA finals as a Freshman who made a mistake. Won the Hodge trophy as a Sophomore. As a Junior, lost to Kyle Dake who is going to go down as one of the greatest College Wrestlers of all time. Finally his Senior year is here. It seems like it was all so quick. He hasn’t had a close match all year. Even the one match he won as a regular decision wasn’t close, 5-2, but a dominant 5-2. I see Taylor getting past Steven Monk of North Dakota State University. In the bottom half, I see Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State falling to the 3 seed (yet ranked #2 in the country) Nick Sulzer of Virginia. Sulzer’s only loss this year was a 2-1 decision to Tyler Caldwell, but I see him exacting his revenge and making a trip to the finals. David Taylor wins this one though. Congratulations to next years 165 pound wrestlers. Next year it’s anyone’s chance to win (and by anyone, I mean Taylor Massa).
174 – This weight class has two returning National Champions and three wrestlers who have one loss, all to each other. Clearly Chris Perry (Oklahoma State and defending National Champion) and Andrew Howe (Oklahoma and former National Champ at 165) have separated themselves from the other competition. They have both beaten a lot of their top competition, including each other, at points in this season. Kokesh from Nebraska is the 3 seed, and his only loss this year was to Andrew Howe. I was skeptical about how tough he was as he hadn’t run into many of the top 174 pound wrestlers in the Big Ten this year. He showed me at the Big Ten tournament that he deserves to be the 3 seed by crushing Logan Storley (Minnesota) and beating Mike Evans (Iowa) in the Big Ten finals. I see Perry meeting Matt Brown (Penn State) in the semi’s after Brown upsets Mike Evans in the Semi’s. At the bottom half of the bracket, I believe that Howe will once again beat Kokesh on his way to the rubber match between Perry and Howe. I was so shocked to see that Perry beat Howe in the big 12 championships that my expression of shock and confusion almost caused us to get into a car accident on the way home from Big Tens. I may be greatly underestimating Chris Perry and his ability, but I’m okay with that. Andrew Howe is a machine and I believe that he will come out on top and that he will be able to pour it on to get the title at 174. Assuming that these two do make the finals, this is going to be one of the most fun matches to watch of the night. It may not be very high scoring, but it will be exciting for true wrestling fans.
184 – As my friend Tommy said, Ed Ruth (Penn State) is going to go down as the best wrestler to never win a Hodge Trophy. Assuming that he wins it all this year, he will have placed 3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st, but didn’t win it because his first NCAA title, was David Taylor. His second year, was Kyle Dake, this year, will be Taylor again (assuming he also wins it in as dominant a fashion as expected). It’s too bad, but he didn’t do himself any favors losing earlier this year. That anticipated rematch will be a let down. I believe Ruth will destroy Gabe Dean(Cornell) in the rematch that should end up in the semi finals. I know that Dean is a hard nosed wrestler who only knows how to wrestle at 100% intensity, and I believe that is how he caught Ruth the first time, but Ruth won’t let it happen again, and he will make sure that he works his ass off to make a statement in that match. I didn’t have the heart to predict that Sheptock (Maryland and the 1 seed) would lose before making it to the semi’s, but I don’t know much about him. I watched him win the Midlands by pulling off a close one against Ethan Lofthouse of Iowa, and I know that he is undefeated, but I also know that I have never seen a wrestler that makes everything look so easy as Edward Ruth does. Sheptock over Lofthouse again to make the finals, Ruth over Dean (BIG win), on his way to his third NCAA championship.
197 – We are getting towards the finish line, but these two weight classes are going to be top notch. Regarding 197, this is the most insanely seeded weight class of them all. The #1 ranked wrestler in the country, Kyven Gadson of Iowa State, is the 5th seed. There isn’t any sort of explanation that I will accept for why that makes sense. None. How does that happen? Anyway, there isn’t anyone that has taken a strong hold on this weight. For a while Scott Schiller of Minnesota looked like he was the guy to beat, then he got beat by a couple people, so I guess it’s not him. The way I see this working out is that Nick Heflin (Ohio State and the 1 seed) will lose to Phillip Wellington of Ohio in the quarter finals. Wellington is GIANT and crazy athletic. I just don’t see Heflin being able to match that athleticism. Heflin bumped up from 174 to 197 this year, and I feel like he owes a lot of his credit at this weight because of his mobility. However, Wellington will match it and beat him. I see Wellington losing to Gadson, who will have had to beat Scott Schiller to get to the semi’s himself. Gadson’s two losses this year were to Schiller, but Schiller doesn’t look like the same wrestler that he was at the beginning of the season, so I don’t think he gets a third win over Gadson. In the bottom half, I see Richard Perry of Bloomsburg (6th seed, but only one loss) knocking off Morgan McIntosh to make the semi’s where he will face J’Den Cox of Missouri. J’Den is having a ridiculous Freshman year, but in the end I believe that the stud freshman will fall to the wiley Senior. Gadson and Perry in the finals. I see Gadson getting the win in this one. He gets to wrestle with Kevin Jackson everyday, which I imagine would help. He is the number 1 guy in the country for a reason. That reason, this robe.
285 – So this one is just a mess. There is a defending NCAA champion who is looking for his third NCAA championship, so you would think that he would be a shoe in for the finals. HOWEVER, that guy has lost a handful of times this year, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to see him getting upset early in the tournament. It’s Heavyweight, so anything can happen and these matches are always very close. I see Nelson getting upset by Amarveer Dheesi of Oregon State. He is a very tough freshman who has some solid wins under his belt on the year. I think he surprises Nelson and gets the win. I see Adam Coon (Michigan) righting the ship and making it to the semi’s where he will meet Dheesi. Coon had a terrible Big Ten Championship, losing two of the three matches that he has lost on the year. Having watched those matches live, he was screwed! One of those losses, he had a takedown, that by rule is a takedown, but was waved off when Cael Sanderson did a Jedi mind trick on the ref. The second match, like the first match he lost, Coon was pushing the pace and driving the other wrestler out of bounds the entire time. He was taking shots and working for position and the others were just backing out of bounds. No stalling calls were made, and it made me go insane. Either way, it was weak. I see Coon beating Dhesi to make the finals. Adam Chalfant is a beast and has had a phenomenal year this year for Indiana. I believe he that he cruises to the semis where he ends up meeting Jeremy Johnson of Ohio. I am predicting some upsets at Heavyweight, and I believe the 2 seed, Gwiazdowski of NC State will lose to Johnson in a close one. Chalfant will do what he does, get some takedowns and push the pace to make it past Johnson and into the finals. The problem with Chalfant’s style, is that it is similar to Coon’s, although I believe Coon is better at it. He will pummel inside, get to his takedowns, take advantage of Chalfant’s shots and end up with an NCAA title. This may be a bit of a Homer pick, but I’m fine with it. Coon is a beast and can certainly get it done.
Make sure you support the sport and watch all of the coverage of the tournament on ESPN next weekend. The more that watch, the more exposure the sport will get in the future. Good luck to all of the competitors.
Claunchinator 