Christian Pyles

There will be a spotlight shone on 157 pounds as long as Isaiah Martinez remains undefeated. The man who still needs three undefeated seasons to match Cael Sanderson will likely be the most widely discussed athlete of this season. With that focus comes a search for contenders and there are a few. 157 will see a very talented new faces that could have an impact nationally. How much remains to be seen. To the predictions.

1. Isaiah Martinez - Illinois
2. Jason Nolf - Penn State
3. Ian Miller - Kent State
4. Nick Brascetta - Virginia Tech
5. Chance Marsteller - Oklahoma State
6. Thomas Gantt - NC State
7. Austin Matthews - Edinboro
8. Mitch Minotti - Lehigh


Round of 12: Brian Murphy - Michigan, Cody Pack - SDSU, Doug Welch - Purdue, Dylan Palacio - Cornell

Round of 16: Luke Smith - CMU, Bryce Brill - Northwestern, Tyler Berger - Nebraska, Dylan Cottrell - West Virginia

Title Contenders:
Isaiah Martinez
Jason Nolf
Ian Miller
Chance Marsteller

A smaller list than we’ve seen in previous weights. That is because of Isaiah Martinez (Still not tame). I-Mar’s unique style not only separates him from the field, it also makes for a lot of very bad match ups. An example is I think Jason Nolf is the 2nd best guy in the field, yet of the title contenders listed I think he has the worst shot of upending Martinez. Miller displayed an ability to keep it very close with Martinez in their match (it was a 1 td match before Miller went big and got pinned very late). I think Chance has a chance to handle the underhook and can stand in the middle and hand fight with Martinez. The question for Chance is going seven minutes with him. I’ve been bullish on Chance the last few years, don’t expect it to stop anytime soon. What you really need is a hybrid of the three. Nolf’s pace + Miller/Chance’s Hand Fighting. It’s a combination few have. That being said, I’m not handing an undefeated season to I-Mar, he will get everyone’s best shot. He didn’t experience that a year ago.

Martinez quickly became my favorite wrestler in the country to watch last year. He does things with such a pace, such ferocity and tenacity that it nearly shocks the system as your watching. To make the leap from losing to Johnny Greisheimer as a True Freshman to going undefeated as a Freshman in a brutal weight is as large a leap in production I’ve seen. Martinez is the perfect storm of a dynamo wrestler: Relentless pace, crisp technique, incredible positioning and great in match strategy. As great as he looked it is really hard for me to say he’ll go 4 years without a loss. It only takes one mildly off day at this level. Logan fell to a True Freshman as the reigning 2 time champ. Dake lost to LeValley, Vinson, etc. That being said, Martinez is my pick for the title and you can’t convince me otherwise.

I refuse to stop hyping Jason Nolf. Superstar status will be established this year. He will become a household name within a few months. He’s one of the few guys in the country who can match pace with Martinez. I can’t say I’ve seen a guy who fires off as many leg attacks as Nolf does. He can fire off attacks for the most part without putting himself at risk for re-attacks (for the most part). That said, people will dig into the film and try to exploit this, so look for a little regression in output (which will bring him down to about 67 shots per match, ha). I love the vastness of Nolf’s game as well. He can attack both sides well but is an incredible scrambler. Able to go from dead to rights to a stalemate or a 50/50 position to his takedown. I thought he looked fantastic against Marsteller this Spring if you're looking for some additional film. He’s very dangerous when you’re on his legs. I’m most curious in his mat wrestling. At times he looks more/less indifferent on top, choosing to go catch and release more than working for the turn. I think we’ll see that change this year.  

Miller is a boom or bust guy. There’s never a match you can count him out of, yet he’ll drop some weird ones as well (see Jarrett Jensen). We’ve watched him bomb some of the best in our country, but we’ve also seen him develop into a staunch defender of leg attacks. His arsenal makes him an ever-present factor in title contender talk, yet I don’t have confidence in him stringing together 5 straight matches at NCAA’s.

Though I think Nick Brascetta may not be a title contender, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him knock off a Miller, Marsteller or even an early crack at Jason Nolf. I just can’t see a scenario where a guy like Nolf hasn’t separated himself by March and I think Martinez is just a brutal match up for Nick. Brascetta put together a fantastic NCAA tournament a year ago despite battling health issues throughout the season. I worry about his health coming into this year still. Being banged up won’t keep him off the podium, but I do think it could keep him from the top. Brascetta is incredibly complete in all facets. Leg attacks, defense, pace and mat wrestling there’s hardly a hole to be poked in his game. Brascetta matches his performance from a year ago and caps off a fine career.

Love Chance at 157. I don’t care if he was more/less marginal there a year ago. I think his weight won’t be much of an issue. I’ll always subtly root for Chance because I believe many at the community are salivating at the thought of labeling him a bust as soon as possible. The reaction to him losing some practice matches at Ok. State a year ago or dropping a match in season seemed to reinforce that sick fact. It’s really quite disgusting. Anyways, what the haters don’t want to discuss is the fine year Chance put together as a True Freshman. Marsteller notched wins over All American Ethan Ramos, Dylan Palacio and round of 12 Mike England. He did have a few losses (Collica, Wiest, Peyton Walsh and Nick Sulzer). The loss to Wiest is really the only one that stands out. It was one loss, very early. Chance looked great this Spring in Freestyle. His gas tank will always make me a bit nervous, especially early in the year. That will be resolved by NCAA’s and we’ll see Chance in full effect and I personally can’t wait!

 

I think Thomas Gantt will wind up another name that D1 fans are discussing that they may have not known about from years past. The NC State Senior has notched some impressive wins: Dylan Alton, Mitch Minotti, Archie Colgan, Joey LaVallee, Blaise Butler and Austin Matthews to name a few. Gantt can attack legs but is gifted upper body as well. At 157 he is going to be a load. He’s got length and strength to go with just about anyone. He had a battle with another one of my favorites this year, Daniel Lewis this Spring. Look for a big year for NC State and a big year for Gantt.

I was bummed when Austin Matthews went down last year with an injury last year. Despite going down early in the year he took out both Luke Smith and Brian Murphy. Coming into the year off his transfer from Clarion he had already knocked off Anthony Perrotti, Blaise Butler and John Greisheimer. At Edinboro I only expect him to flourish all the more.

Mitch Minotti, what an enigma. I am just resigned to the fact that he’s going to place every year. If he ever wasn’t going to place, it was last year. He was injured the first half of the year, and completely marginal through conferences dropping matches to Greg Flournoy, Noel Blanco and Aaron Walker. I expect a lot more consistency this season as health should no longer be a factor. I’ll say it for the 14th time or so, big year coming for Lehigh.

Some serious heat off the podium. Talent wise Dylan Palacio has all the goods to place but I’m worried about his health. It derailed him a year ago from placing in my opinion and it could happen again. Murphy is as solid as anyone in this weight but I worry he is too counter-reliant. I’d like to see more attacks out of him before I predict All American status. Cody Pack as well has the goods but he’s fallen flat at NCAA’s the last two years after very solid regular seasons.

There’s also some major youth and upside that cannot be discounted. Archie Colgan wasn’t in my top 16 but I really believe he could have a big year for Wyoming. Just want to see it in action first. I love Bryce Brill this year as well as Tyler Berger as two impact Freshman. Dylan Cottrell will likely benefit from a change of scenery back home at West Virginia.

A few days ago I said 141 was my favorite weight this year, but...

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