2018 National Collegiate Open

Former National Collegiate Open Champs Turned NCAA Stars

Former National Collegiate Open Champs Turned NCAA Stars

The National Collegiate Open often gives a glimpse at the potential stars for next season, and last year's tournament was a perfect example.

Feb 21, 2018 by Kyle Bratke
Former National Collegiate Open Champs Turned NCAA Stars

The National Collegiate Open often gives a glimpse at the potential stars for next season, and last year's tournament was a perfect example.

Held in Dover, Delaware, the competition serves as a postseason championship for wrestlers who are not entered in their schools' national qualifying tournaments. Altogether 10 competitors who vied for titles at the 2017 NCO have finished the regular season in 2018 ranked in their weight classes.

Here's a deeper look at the wrestlers who competed at the last year's National Collegiate Open who have found success this season.

WATCH THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE OPEN

DATES: Sunday, March 25 | TIME: 9 AM CT | WHERE: Dover, DE


133 — #6 Montorie Bridges, Wyoming; #7 at 125 Taylor LaMont, Utah Valley; #16 Tariq Wilson, NC State

Arguably the toughest weight at last year's tournament featured three wrestlers who are now ranked in the top 16, two of whom are ranked in the top seven.

Taylor Lamont, now down at 125, knocked off #16 Tariq Wilson in the quarterfinals before falling to #6 Montorie Bridges in the finals, 2-1.

LaMont caught the wrestling world's attention on the opening weekend of the year when he pinned NCAA finalist Zeke Moisey. The freshman then followed that up with a CKLV title by beating Drew Mattin, Ethan Lizak, Connor Schram, and Sean Russell.

Since losing to Rico Montoya on opening weekend, Bridges has gone 27-2 with wins over Wilson, Josh Terao, and Kaid Brock and losses only to Luke Pletcher and Austin DeSanto.

Wilson has been coming on strong recently picking up wins over Jack Mueller, Cam Skykora, and Nathan Boston.

141 — AC Headlee, North Carolina

AC Headlee rolled to a title in Dover a year ago. This season he has been in and out of the rankings but owns wins over All-American Tommy Thorn and Big Ten finalist Javier Gasca.

149 — Kennedy Monday, North Carolina

Now up at 157, Kennedy Monday stormed to an NCO championship a year ago to notch back-to-back titles for the Tar Heels. Now in the starting lineup, Monday has pieced together a strong freshman campaign with wins over All-Americans Tyler Berger and Solomon Chishko and also knocked off John Van Brill and Taleb Rahmani.

Also of note, current #13 Beau Donahue didn't place last season but owns wins this year over Boo Lewallen and Ryan Blees.

165 — #3 Hayden Hidlay, NC State

Down a weight from where he wrestled at as a redshirt, Hayden Hidlay has pieced together one of the most impressive campaigns in the country. The redshirt freshman heads into the postseason 20-0 with wins over NCAA finalist Joey Lavallee and All-Americans Micah Jordan, Tyler Berger, and Solomon Chishko.

184 — #6 Pete Renda, NC State; #13 Max Dean, Cornell; #16 at 197 Stephen Loiseau, Drexel

While Pete Renda was already a household name, Max Dean and Stephen Loiseau hopped onto people's radar with strong NCO performances.

Taking over the starting spot from his brother, Gabe, Max has been outstanding for the Big Red. The freshman is 26-2 on the year with wins over All-American Drew Foster, Michael Coleman, and Chip Ness.

Up at 197, #16 Stephen Loiseau started the year unranked but after a strong showing at CKLV has jumped into the rankings. This season he owns wins over #20 Sammy Colbray and #19 Matt Williams.

197 — #1 Ben Darmstadt, Cornell

Now the nation's top-ranked 197-pounder, Ben Darmstadt dominated his way to an NCO title last year. Darmstadt has carried that success over to this season finishing the regular season 27-1 with 24 bonus-point wins and wins over Willie Miklus, Shakur Rasheed, Frank Mattiace, and Danny Chaid.

285 — #11 Mike Hughes, Hofstra

Since winning the NCO last season Mike Hughes has stormed to a 30-2 record, with his lone defeats coming to All-Americans Nick Nevills and Jacob Kasper. Twenty-one of Hughes' victories have been bonus-point wins, and he has beaten Derek White, Thomas Haines, Shawn Streck, and Garrett Ryan.