Christian Pyles

It’s pretty rare to see a weight with all the big players back but that’s what we have this year at 184. All eight All-Americans are back with another large group of talent waiting in the wings. Knowing that, it’s tough to say where the changes from last years NCAA’s will take place. There are a few spots where I see some changes in the NCAA finishes.

1. Gabe Dean - Cornell
2. Nate Brown - Lehigh
3. Vic Avery - Edinboro
4. TJ Dudley - Nebraska
5. Jack Dechow - Old Dominion
6. Willie Miklus - Missouri
7. Hayden Zilmer - North Dakota State
8. Blake Stauffer - Arizona State


Round of 12: Kenny Courts - Ohio State, Lorenzo Thomas - Penn, Sammy Brooks - Iowa, Matt McCutcheon - Penn State

Round of 16: Domenic Abounader - Michigan, Mat Miller - Navy, Nolan Boyd - Oklahoma State, Nikko Reyes - Northern Colorado

Title Contenders:
Gabe Dean
Nate Brown
Vic Avery
Hayden Zilmer
TJ Dudley

Once again very hard to know where to draw the line for title contenders. I didn’t include Dechow, Miklus or Stauffer but if you think I should, I get it. If you think TJ Dudley shouldn’t be included, I also get that. I stand by the first three for sure and can’t imagine I’ll get much pushback from Gabe, Nate and Vic being on there.

Gabe had a slow-ish start early in the year. That could potentially be attributed to a long Summer of traveling and wrestling. Once recovered Gabe returned to as good of form as ever. He brings brutal pace and positioning, great re-attacks, short offense and strong leg attacks. He’s an underrated athlete with tremendous strength and body-awareness. It’s tough to see a scenario where he loses. Yet, he fell to Taylor Meeks and Hayden Zilmer a year ago. Brown and Avery will likely prove to be his biggest competition.

Last year in my preseason rankings I had Gabe and Nate 1 and 2. I’m sticking with that once more. Nate made some great adjustments by NCAA’s taking out Thomusseit (who beat him at the Scuffle) then handling Kenny Courts in the semi. The NCAA Final match got away from him a bit against Dean but he had shown both in the dual and early at EIWA’s that he could compete with Gabe. He’s taken the steps to add additional size and that will likely pay dividends. He is as crafty defensively as any wrestler in the country. If he attacked a little more consistently I think he’d have an even better shot to take out Dean who has shown he can give up a takedown on occasion.

Avery and Dean had an absolute war in their semifinal last year. It really displayed how great both guys were and how dang tough it is to take down Gabe Dean. Both guys traded blows for 7 minutes plus. Avery may be as strong as anyone in this weight. I worry about his durability, as injuries have hampered him along the way. If he can be clicking come March he could be the pick to take home the big prize.  He and the next guy on this list may have the most upside at this weight. 

I’ve been hyping TJ Dudley most of this Summer. I’ve always seen the talent there, now it sounds like he’s been putting in serious work and making tremendous strides. I know he can wrestle with anybody at this weight and he’s given Gabe Dean some tough matches in the past. I know he can drop some matches as well which is why I’m sure many will bristle at him being so high. Going more gut/eyeball than things that are measurable with TJ.

Jack Dechow had some great moments last year but ended up falling short of the All American status he attained the year prior. Dechow has beaten the likes of Kevin Steinhaus, Max Thomusseit, Willie Miklus, Sam Brooks and Lorenzo Thomas. He fell to two hammers Zilmer and Avery at NCAA’s last year. I heard him say he was too focused on beating Dean and lost sight of the rest of the field. Expect a new focus this year from Dechow and continued good results.

Here's a bout between Avery and Dechow at VA Duals:



Willie Miklus was among the more preposterous unseeded wrestlers last year. He proved that to be the case with his All American finish. He ran quite the gauntlet at NCAA’s beating Lorenzo Thomas, Ricky Robertson, Taylor Meeks and TJ Dudley. He’s comfortable and dangerous in all positions. He can scramble when you’re on his legs and he’s crafty on the mat. He’s got a fine fireman’s carry and other strong leg attacks. He is a little to comfortable letting guys in on his legs and that ultimately will be problematic. If he can temper it a tad to where it’s a more complementary facet of his game he’ll become all the more dangerous.

Miklus may be one of the most fun guys to watch at this weight:



The only guy with a win over Gabe Dean that’s still in the D1 mix is Hayden Zilmer. That fact alone puts him in the mix to place high. The move up from 174 pounds paid huge dividends for Hayden who earned wins over Gabe Dean, Jack Dechow, Max Thomusseit and TJ Dudley last year. He’s got a great single leg in addition to stingy defense. He can ride for both time and turns as well. He looked fantastic wrestling Freestyle this Spring at Universities.

Someone has to be 8th I guess. We saw tremendous improvement in just one year with Stauffer with the new ASU coaching staff. He had a rock steady year (as did all of these guys) losing to Matt McCutcheon and Kenny Courts as really the worst losses he experienced. His wins are fairly impressive having beaten Zilmer, Miklus Courts and Brooks. If you want to say I’m sleeping on him, I accept that.

With a field that returns, well, everybody there’s going to be a ton of talent left off the podium. I realize that some (and potentially many) of the guys I predict in the top 8 could find themselves off the podium and vice versa.

As great as Kenny Courts was at NCAA’s I am erring on the side the Kenny Courts has shown us the last 3 years. He’s been able to beat some talented guys, but ultimately extended success has been hard for him to find. Lorenzo Thomas, Sammy Brooks, Domenic Abounader and Matt McCutcheon are among the most talented guys to not be included in the top 8 for any weight. Apart from Dean as the champ, I have very little confidence in these predictions 2-16. Seeing guys outside the top 8 placing won’t cause me to bat an eye, nor should it for you. 

Tweet any comments/questions @CPyles8 or email christian.pyles@flosports.tv

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