NCAA Wrestling Championships 2013

CP's Medal Day Preview

CP's Medal Day Preview

Mar 23, 2013 by Willie Saylor
CP's Medal Day Preview
Medal Day Preview
Christian Pyles, College Analyst

Sadly the final day of the college wrestling season is upon us. Let not your hearts be troubled though, the best is yet to come!

Day 2 was your typical day 2 at NCAA’s in that it was full of the upsets and surprises that make this tournament the best. Here are some reflections on the blood round and prognoses for the last day of action.


125:
Megaludis won in pretty much the only way I could see him winning. Really thought Waters had a little more from neutral, and the mat. While that might have been the case, Megaludis’ conditioning and match management were the difference. It was somewhat the ugly win I predicted. Delgado rolled over Garrett as predicted and looks ready to win a title. I’ve liked Delgado all tournament long and nothing is changing my mind about that one. I like Jesse to win, but he does have a habit of being a bit reckless, especially underneath. A mistake there is the pathway to victory for Megaludis.

Wrestleback wise, the big news is the departure of Matt McDonough from the tournament. Sad to see it end like that, but this sport isn’t kind. Congrats to Trent Sprenkle for breaking through. I’d be surprised to see Waters not come back and take 3rd. He should beat Sprenkle with little issue then face Garnett or Garrett. I’ll take Garnett. I like Thorn to defeat Cox. How about David Thorn dropping his first match and crawling back to place? Props. I like Garrett to place 5th beating Sprenkle.


133:
Well the expected final is set, but Graff made it very interesting as predicted. Ramos’ leg attacks are almost exclusively re-shots. While his re-shot is world class, this is not a sustainable solution against Stieber. Stieber tempers his typical neutral aggression against Ramos knowing this is Tony’s plan. He can’t just hope to steal that sort of takedown from Logan, he will need to generate offense from his own leg attacks or it’s not going to go well. As I said earlier, I like Logan here with little issue. He was once again dominant over Schopp, and looks poised to win another title.

This bracket has gone almost completely chalk; it’s almost scary. McCormick should beat Brewer again for 7th place. I like Graff to beat Dardanes again and Schopp to beat Morrison. In the third place match, I’ll take Graff to take 3rd over Schopp in what should be an exciting match. Dardanes and Morrison meet again to wrestle for 5th. Dardanes seems to be just the slightest bit better, so I’ll take him to win close. These wrestle backs sometimes yield lopsided results, so that’s something to keep an eye out for as well.


141:
Another sluggish performance from Stieber and it finally cost him. You’ve got to credit to Mitchell Port for capitalizing and reversing the earlier losses and winning when it matters most. He’s got a very tall task taking on Kendric Maple who has been fantastic all tournament. He’s been aggressive on his feet and relentless on top. I whiffed on this weight picking Hunter over Maple. Maples strength and well rounded game should be more than enough to take on the talented but somewhat limited Port(comparatively speaking).

In consolations my darkhorse Neibert from VT is wrestling Dardanes for 7th. I like Dardanes to win. His strength will be too much for Neibert and it’s tough to funk those Dardanes doubles. I think Henderson beats Ugi once again and will take on Hunter for 3rd place. Last time those two met Henderson cradled and pinned Stieber. I see Stieber reversing that result and going out 3rd. Ugi and Nevinger tangle for 5th place and I see Nevinger winning and taking 5th place. Those two met at the Scuffle where Nevinger won narrowly.


149: 
JO and Chamberlain performed as expected and wind up in the finals. JO’s other title came at the expense of a Boise State Bronco(Andrew Hochstrasser) and I see Oliver cruising to another title. Chamberlain is super on his feet, so the takedowns won’t come as easy, but Oliver’s technique combined with his quickness and strength is going to be too much for Chamberlain.

Glad to see another Hokie on the podium. I like Brascetta to beat Lopouchanski for 7th place. Lopouchanski eliminated my potential let down guy Von Ohlen. I think Sakaguchi beats Santos and Ness gets some revenge on Houdashelt. I’ll take Ness to get third with almost no confidence what-so ever. I like Santos to defeat Houdashelt and take home 5th place.


157:
Welch looks really solid so far. Past results would suggest he’s the underdog here against St. John. DSJ barely survived a very game Alex Dieringer. It looked like he was giving the Freshman a whole lot of respect. While he pushed most of the action, he seemed too comfortable letting the match stay close. DSJ has been my pick, so I’ll ride it out.

Honestly, I have no clue how this wrestleback is going to shape up. I’ll take a stab here. Green beats Fleming again, Moore beats Dieringer, Pena beats Bonin. Moore beats Pena (if you had that as the consolation finals, I’m calling you a liar) for 3rd and Dieringer beats Bonin for 5th. I honestly have no confidence in these picks. I just think Moore presents some unique mat problems for Dieringer.


165:
It happened just how we thought it would. DT lights up everyone in his path and Dake does what he does: win. The stage is set, and I’ve said my piece. No amount of dominance by Taylor is going to sway me. He was just as dominant last year and this year and it didn’t matter in either match with Dake. Dake makes history tonight.

The holy crap award goes to Mike Moreno (darkhorse) who tech falled Taylor Massa and can no do no worse than 6th. I like Sulzer to beat Yohn for 7th place. Caldwell should beat Polz with little issue, he’s too strong for Conrad and will dominate most positions. I think Yates should beat Moreno, but who really knows. I’ll go with Yates, but Moreno is on fire right now. I’ll take Caldwell to beat Yates for 3rd and Polz to beat Moreno for 5th. There will be some awesome matches there.


174:
Another 1 and 2 seed meet in the finals. Perry looked good again and his sweep is so lethal, I wish he would just use it more. It’s picture perfect. Brown has looked great all tournament long. Betting against PSU might be dumb at this point, but I really think Perry’s match management ability and stinginess give him the win. It’s going to be a tight one for sure though.

Cody Walters has managed to earn All American status without beating a single seeded wrestler. You don’t see that too much. He’ll have a chance to beat one in Jordan Blanton as they wrestle for 7th place. I’ll take Blanton. Evans should beat Kokesh again, and I like Storley to avenge his Big 10 loss over Heflin. Storley takes 3rd beating Evans for the 4th time this year. Kokesh will beat Heflin to take 5th.


184:
Ruth looked great again against Bosak. I liked seeing the early aggression out of him getting that early takedown. Likewise, Hamlin looked sharp in beating Bennett. Should have went with my gut all along. Hamlin is just a stud. He gave Ruth a tight one in state college. I like Ruth to wrestle within himself, score a few takedowns, get riding time and cruise to an 8-2 type of win. Hamlin has not had luck with PSU guys at NCAA’s. Lost to Q in finals, lost to Q in semi’s, now he’s got Ruth. Tall order.

Meanwhile, I can hardly believe that Steinhaus is off the podium. Not that a loss to Jimmy Sheptock is an Earth shattering upset, it’s just I felt like Kevin was a guy who would find a way to wind up there each year at minimum. That’s how this tournament goes though.

Meanwhile Ethen Lofthouse continues to peck through the consolations. I like Loder to beat Larson for 7th. Loder has won 2 of 3 over Larson this year. I see Bosak beating Sheptock and Bennett beating Lofthouse in the consolation semis. Bosak should be able to beat Bennett and finish his career with a victory and 3rd All American honor. I like Lofthouse to beat Sheptock. Ethen beat Sheptock in the round of 12 last year. Both guys have come a long way since then.


197:
Meeks was impressive in defeat, that kid was looking to win. Credit to him, and credit Kilgore being ready. Makes me wonder how much of an underdog Quentin really is in this match. Meeks does seem to have some real physical strength, and I think that served him well. Quentin is no weakling, but horsepower isn’t his game. Leverage and speed from dominating holds are how he makes his money. Quentin looked pretty tired at the end, but I felt he pushed much of the action during regulation. I’ll stick with my original pick of Kilgore, but with much more reservation now than beforehand. Should be a dandy.

Glad to see Gadson place ahead of Rosholt. I’ll leave it at that. Hernandez will take on Rosholt for 7th place. Not where I expected to see Alfonso, but I like him to win this one despite Rosholt owning a win over him last year. I see Wilps beating Gadson and Meeks beating Schiller in the consolation semis. I like Wilps to get 3rd over Meeks. I think Wilps is a little too fundamentally sound, but I’ve been continually under-rating Meeks this tournament, so what do I know? I like Gadson to beat Schiller for 5th.


285:
McMullan made it happen! Good for him. He’s going to have his hands full with Nelson though. Honestly can’t believe Gelogaev found a way to lose that match, but credit Nelson for doing what champions do. He’ll take on a familiar foe in McMullan. Mike made some quality adjustments against Bradley from the last time they wrestled, and he’ll need to make similar adjustments against Nelson. He needs to keep his aggression, but pick his spots more. He can’t give Nelson a takedown, which means he needs to be sure of his shots. I think he can sneak a takedown and make this interesting, but I’m not betting against Nelson, and his last match should tell you why.

I like Delaney to beat Gibson for 7th. I think his top game gives Gibson problems. I think Z beats Thommusseit and Bradley beats Trice (again) in the consolation semis.

We’ll get to see another Z v. Bradley match and hopefully there’s less fighting and more wrestling. Either way, I’ll be happy to simply be entertained. I like Bradley to find a way to win here, but a Z win wouldn’t surprise me. I think Trice beats Thommusseit to round out a really solid tournament.


Crown them Thrice:
Congrats to PSU for a fine tournament. I see them winning their third straight. Wrestling hard and looking for bonus points can erase a lot of mistakes. Both Altons failing to place would be insurmountable for many teams, but their depth and ability to get bonus set them apart from any other team in the country. That’s an even scarier team coming back next year. They lose Q (which will hurt) but insert McIntosh and Gulibon into the lineup. Get to work everyone else, the bar is set, and it’s high.

Feel free to come back and make fun of me if PSU somehow blows this lead, but it’s 1 AM, and this will be my last writing of the tournament probably, so I wanted to get that last bit in there.