Fi: CP's Pac 12 Preview-West Coast Represent!

Feb 26, 2014 by Christian Pyles

Pac 12 Preview And Predictions

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Pac 12 Preview And Predictions
Christian Pyles

You know the post season as arrived when things get rolling on the West Coast. The Pac 12 will get the post season moving into action and will be the first tourney sending guys to the big dance in OKC!

There are sure to be some serious battles for the top spots as qualifying spots will be at a premium.

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Stanford’s #12 Evan Silver looks to be the clear cut favorite and potentially the only qualifier coming out of the Pac 12. Silver has been solid all year and is starting to shape into the wrestler many thought he’d be coming out of high school.

Evan Silver was 5-0 against Pac 12 Competition. While that record is impressive, it is notable that he had one point matches with both Rami Haddadin of Boise State and Ares Carpio of ASU. Some of that is Silver’s style, some of that is the fact that the competition is close.

The 2nd, 3rd and 4th place will be a very tight finish as these guys all beat up on each other.

ASU’s Ares Carpio downed Haddadin, Rollins and Correa, but fell to Longmire. Longmire fell to Haddadin of Boise State in addition to Silver.

Boise State’s Rami Haddadin fell to Carpio and Silver in Pac 12 competition. So you can see they all beat each other up, and deciphering who beats who is a crapshoot!

CP’s 125 Prediction:

1. Evan Silver-Stanford
2. Rami Haddadin-Boise State
3. Ares Carpio-Arizona State
4. Britain Longmire-Cal Poly

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Once again I think we see a Stanford lightweight as the head and shoulders favorite above the rest. #15 Ryan Mango has had a fine season, though maybe hasn’t lived up to expectations placed on him earlier in the year. He only has 3 losses on the season, but at 25-3 he doesn’t really have the quality wins you’d expect for someone with National Title aspirations coming into the year. He will likely be challenged strongly by Cal Poly’s Devin Lotito. It was a 3-2 win for Mango earlier in the year and Lotito has not fallen to any other opponent within the Pac 12.

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Those two will likely be challenged by Jose Mendoza of CSU Bakersfield and Drew Van Anrooy of Oregon State. Mendoza was nipping at Mango’s heels earlier this year, falling 7-6. Later on, Mango widened the gap with a 17-4 major decision. Mendoza split with Van Anrooy, losing the most recent match.

Van Anrooy, unlike Mendoza has faced Lotito and was subsequently shut out by the Mustang. I like Van Anrooy’s upside here and think he’s the likely pick for the 3 spot.

CP’s 133 Prediction:

1. Ryan Mango-Stanford
2. Devin Lotito-Cal Poly
3. Drew Van Anrooy-Oregon State
4. Jose Mendoza-CSU Bakersfield

141

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CSU Bakersfield’s Ian Nickell is the man to beat in this weight. At a perfect 6-0 against Pac 12 competition and a complete lack of a close match (closest win was 7-2 over Himelman), Nickell is potentially the one of the biggest favorites in the whole tournament.

Nickell will be challenged by the eternal Brian Owen. Owen seems like he’s been around for a bit, mainly because he has. In his 6th season, Owen will be looking to claim his first Pac 12 title for the Broncos. Owen has only wrestled a handful of matches, so it will be interesting to see how he competes for an entire tournament.

Nickell and Owen will be challenged by Oregon State’s Joey Delgado as well as ASU’s Matt Kraus. Kraus fell to Owen but majored Delgado. Delgado will be in a dogfight with Stanford’s Peter Russo and Cal Poly’s Victor Trujillo for the 5 spot. Trujillo beat Russo but fell to Krauss. Russo knocked off Delgado. It’s all a mess at this weight.

CP’s 141 Prediction:

1. Ian Nickell-CSU Bakersfield
2. Brian Owen-Boise State
3. Matt Krauss-Arizona State
4. Joey Delgado-Oregon State

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Despite the up and down season Oregon State’s #13 Scott Sakaguchi has had, he is still head and shoulders above the competition here at Pac 12’s. The 2 time All American has had some hardships, including a loss to Boise State’s Chris Castillo, but of late he’s been solid enough and should be considered the guy to beat here.

He’ll be challenged by the aforementioned Chris Castillo of Boise State as well as Dalton Kelley of CSU Bakersfield, who defeated Castillo. Kyle Chene of Cal Poly has been able to keep it close with the Pac 12 elite, but is yet to notch that signature win.

CP’s 149 Prediction:

1. Scott Sakaguchi-Oregon State
2. Chris Castillo-Boise State
3. Dalton Kelley-CSU Bakersfield
4. Kyle Chene-Cal Poly

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Here’s another Oregon State hammer and All American coming for a Pac 12 title in 10th ranked RJ Pena. Pena is among the most devastating top wrestlers in the country. He’ll be a huge favorite here as he has dominated all Pac 12 competition to date.

Vying for a high finish will be Arizona State’s Joel Smith and Stanford’s Bret Baumbach. Smith only fell to Pena this year and knocked off Baumbach in dominant fashion. This weight falls of the map a bit. This weight is all Pena though.

CP’s 157 Prediction:

1. RJ Pena-Oregon State
2. Joel Smith-Arizona State
3. Bret Baumbach-Stanford
4. Spencer Hill-CSU Bakersfield

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Stanford Freshman and 16th ranked Jim Wilson is yet to lose to anyone in Pac 12 competition. The Freshman sits at 30-6 currently and hasn’t had a close match with any of his Pac 12 counterparts.

Nick Rex of Arizona State has done very well against Pac 12 competition apart from his 6-1 loss to Wilson. Rex will be pursued by Holden Packard of Boise State and David Meza of CSU Bakersfield.

CP’s 165 Predictions:

1. Jim WIlson-Stanford
2. Nick Rex-Arizona State
3. Holden Packard-Boise State
4. David Meza-CSU Bakersfield

174

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This is potentially the most competitive weight in the entire tournament. #10 Bryce Hammond of CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly’s 12th ranked Dom Kastl. Kastl won the earlier match, but it was Hammond who responded with a 4-2 win later in the year.

While those two are the likely 1-2, it’s Joe Latham of Oregon State who will be a very tough out for whoever he faces. It was a 6-4 thriller when Kastl beat Latham in that sick outdoor dual at SLO.

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A wildcard in this weight is ASU’s Kevin Radford. I don’t know if he will be back and healthy, but a year ago he was extremely tough at 184.

I like Hammond to win this weight here despite the close rivalry he’s had with Kastl.

CP’s 174 Predictions:

1. Bryce Hammond-CSU Bakersfield
2. Dom Kastl-Cal Poly
3. Joe Latham-Oregon State
4. Kyle Meyer-Stanford

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84 is a tough and top heavy weight at the Pac 12. #7 Jacob Swartz of Boise State has been a pillar of consistency for the Bronco’s year in and year out. He’s never going to wow you with huge scores, but he’s great at wrestling his pace and getting to his leg attacks.

Blake Stauffer is a real talent for the Sun Devils, but consistency has been an issue this year. He and Swartz have not crossed paths as of yet, but I don’t see much reason Swartz will stumble. Stauffer can but a big time point scorer, but against someone defensively sound like Swartz, I think he just comes up frustrated.

Morehead of Oregon State and whoever Stanford puts out at 174 (Thomas Kimbrell or Zach Nevills).

CP’s 184 Predictions:

1. Jacob Swartz-Boise State
2. Blake Stauffer-Arizona State
3. Austin Morehead-Oregon State
4. Thomas Kimbrell-Stanford

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197 will feature another potential ranked v. ranked final. Oregon State’s All American and currently 9th ranked Taylor Meeks will have to outlast Stanford’s 18th ranked Dan Scherer. Scherer doesn’t have the sexy wins yet, but has been solid all season. Meeks started the year with a win over Scott Schiller, but has fallen on hard times of late.

All that said, Meeks is a hammer and dominated Scherer 5-1 earlier this year. He did have a 1 point match with Cody Dixon which is a bit worrisome, but I think Meeks has shown he knows when to turn it on. Expect to see that this weekend.

CP’s 197 Predictions:

1. Taylor Meeks-Oregon State
2. Dan Scherer-Stanford
3. Cody Dixon-Boise State
4. Wesley Moore-Arizona State

285

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Probably the weight I’m looking forward to more than any other. The big boys. I’ve enjoyed following JT Felix’s career and think he is going to make some serious noise both at Pac 12’s as well as NCAA”s. Though Felix has only climbed to the 9 spot in our rankings, let that serve as a tribute to the absolute brutality of this weight. He’ll be challenged by Oregon State’s True Freshman Amarveer Dhesi. Dhesi wowed us all when he dominated Adam Coon in freestyle.

To me Dhesi is right there. Athletically he is on par with most guys at this weight. He needs a bit more work on the mat, some better set ups and a bit more grit to endure the 7 minute grind. He’s not ready to knock off Felix, but I’d be surprised to see him bonused here.

The wildcard here is if we will see Kyle Colling or not. The ASU big man has been MIA since knocking off Adam Chalfant in November. If he comes back and is healthy, he could contend for the top spot.

CP’s 285 Predictions:

1. JT Felix-Boise State
2. Amarveer Dhesi-Oregon State
3. Josh Marchok-Stanford
4. Spencer Empey-Cal Poly

CP's Team Predictions:

1.Oregon State
2. Stanford
3. Boise State
4. CSU Bakersfield
5. Arizona State
6. Cal Poly

The race for the top spot is going to be crazy close between the top 2 teams. Then there’s some separation between Stanford and Boise, then more separation between Boise and CSU Bakersfield.