Top 7 Upsets Of The Week In NCAA Wrestling

Top 7 Upsets Of The Week In NCAA Wrestling

There were more than a few landscape-changing upsets this past week in NCAA competition, and this is the place to get caught up in a hurry on the biggest matches.

Jan 23, 2017 by Christian Pyles
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There were more than a few landscape-changing upsets this past week in NCAA competition, and this is the place to get caught up in a hurry on the biggest matches. If you want to take a look at each result, check out our complete NCAA box scores here

7) #7 Seth Gross, SDSU, wbd #2 Kaid Brock, OK State, 6-4

(WATCH MATCH)
I suppose it was an upset on paper: undefeated Kaid Brock versus a one-loss Seth Gross at 133 pounds. The scrambling and top game were a known potential issue for Brock. Those areas of strength for Gross proved to be the difference against the second-ranked Brock.

6) #9 Nate Rotert, SDSU, wbd #4 Preston Weigel, OK State, 3-1

(WATCH MATCH)
This was a really fun match in which Rotert shot incessantly and eventually got the much-needed finish to take out Wegel. Nos. 4-10 are a very liquid group for 197 this year. 

5) #13 Alex Meyer, Iowa, wbd Mark Hall, Penn State, 7-5

Though Hall didn't have a ranking at 174 (due to not being in the PSU lineup) with wins over No. 5 Kyle Crutchmer, No. 6 Ryan Preisch and No. 11 Casey Kent, he certainly would have been ranked higher than Meyer coming into Friday's dual against Iowa.

4) Yoanse Mejias, Oklahoma, wbd #10 Dylan Cottrell, WVU, 8-5

Oklahoma's lineup shift with Glass going down to 157 and inserting Mejia at 165 is looking like a great decision as Mejia took out Cottrell in a one-sided match. 

3) #15 David Kocer, SDSU, wbd #5 Kyle Crutchmer, OK State, 7-2

(WATCH MATCH)
One mistake for Crutchmer cost him the match. The Cowboys senior went big early looking for a cement mixer but was caught on his back for six and could never get it back. 

2) Trace Engelkes, Northern Illinois, wbd #9 Zac Brunson, Illinois, 6-2

I did a double-take on this one at 174. I can't lie, I didn't know the first thing about Engelkes coming into this weekend. He's actually been very solid all year, only losing to ranked opponents. Strangely, Brunson notched a great win over Myles Amine on Friday before suffering this loss. 

1) Kyle Langenderfer, Illinois, wbd #7 Brian Murphy (Michigan) 2-1

Langenderfer takes the cake this week. He's been up and down this year and actually was probably more down than up. In previous years, the 157-pounder had some big wins but hasn't been able to find his stride recently.  This one got chippy at the end, so I'm excited to see what happens if these two hit at Big Tens or NCAAs.

Honorable Mention:
#8 Tim Lambert, Nebraska over #4 Ethan Lizak, Nebraska
#12 Josh Alber, UNI over #11 Earl Hall, Iowa State
#6 Zane Richards, Illinois over #4 Stevan Micic, Michigan
Brent Fleetwood, CMU over #20 Barlow McGhee, Missouri
#20 Sal Mastriani, Virginia Tech over #18 Andrew Atkinson, UVA