The night of March 23rd in Pittsburgh, college wrestling will lose an all-time great in Jason Nolf. He's on pace to become a four-time finalist with 3* career losses and is one of the most dominant and innovative wrestlers of this generation.

Aside from Nolf, this year's group of returning AAs at 157 also features Tyler Berger and Alec Pantaleo. Indications as of now are that Micah Jordan will be dropping down to 149 to wrestle-off Ke-Shawn Hayes for the starting spot.

Returning AAs By Weight

125 | 133 | 141 | 149

Michael Kemerer's gone up to 174, but non-seniors Hayden Hidlay and Josh Shields will still be there next year after the above-mentioned group graduates. The Pennsylvania natives did not meet last year, but Shields beat Hidlay 3-1 at Midlands in 2016.

In total, there are six previous placers coming back at this weight. On to the full list of returning AAs at 157.

Jason Nolf, Penn State: 2, 1, 1, ?

It's one thing to be a high-level, blue-chip recruit and have a successful college career. It's another to have a top-10 all-time level career. Nolf enters this season with 72 career points at NCAAs, meaning his average is 24 per tournament. If he hits that once again, he'll have 96, which would put him alone in seventh place, ahead of both Zain Retherford and Ed Ruth.

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Hayden Hidlay: NC State: 2, ?, ?, ?

Hidlay walked into Cleveland last year as the 1 seed, which regardless of how you feel about Nolf was accurate based on the regular season. Now, no one was surprised that Nolf still won the weight, and wouldn't be surprised if it happens again. However, Hidlay clearly cemented himself as a guy who is good enough to win a national title, and then followed that up with a finals appearance at the U.S. Open in April before making the U23 world team in June.

Tyler Berger, Nebraska: R12, 5, 3, ?

The Husker senior has progressively done better and better at the big show, filling in well as the man coming in right after James Green graduated. If Berger places this year, he'd be the best wrestler from Oregon since Nick Amuchastegui finished his career going fourth, second, and second for Stanford from 2010-12. While shooting for his 100th career win, Berger will hit just about every other top-10 type guy this season.

Alec Pantaleo, Michigan: DNP, 6, 5, ?

The one man to push Jason Nolf last year was Pantaleo. He'll be the senior leader on a Michigan team looking to win a second straight team trophy. The Wolverine was 2-0 against Berger last season, and 4-0 against Micah Jordan, but fell to Hidlay at both NCAAs and at the U.S. Open. He appears to be the clear #3 heading into the season.

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Josh Shields, Arizona State: DNP, 7, ?, ?

Shields had just four losses during the 2017-18 season, two of which were to Kemerer. He started off last season on fire, and really outside of a loss to Luke Zilverberg at NCAAs didn't have any head-scratchers. However, he has been to two NCAAs, and performed under seed both times. He went 1-2 as the nine seed in 2017 and finished seventh as the four seed last year. However, Shields is good enough to beat just about anyone at this weight.

Paul Fox, Stanford: DNW, 7th, R12, ?

The Pac-12 has two of the seven returning AAs, making it perhaps the strongest weight in the conference. He actually had a better overall season as a junior, but won his final two matches as a sophomore to finish seventh; he injured his knee as a freshman and could not wrestle in the conference tournament. The man on Stanford's roster who is perhaps most likely to replicate or exceed Fox's career is Shane Griffith, a true freshman who may be just one weight up from Fox and be able to drill every day with the Cardinal's senior leader.