The entire wrestling community stands on a precipice, for ahead of us is the most exhilarating three days of the year, but it also means we are coming to the abrupt end of the season.

We're unloading the weight class previews in rapid fire fashion, crafting each with the same painstaking detail that the athletes who have worked all their lives to achieve their NCAA goals deserve.

NCAA Brackets in FloArena

The hardest thing to do in sports is to repeat. In each of the first three weight classes, last year's champ had eligibility to repeat. But I didn't pick Spencer Lee to go back-to-back in my 125 preview and Seth Gross only wrestled one match this year. But now we come to Yianni Diakomihalis, the man without a nickname because he is simply known as Yianni.

The Cornell sophomore is one of the biggest stars in the sport, but hasn't quite had the same prolonged reign atop the sport of other blue chippers. He couldn't secure his fifth New York state title due to an injury that prematurely ended his senior season of high school. Since winning his second Cadet world title in 2016, he's been third at two Junior Opens and couldn't compete in last year's because of a torn ACL.

I bring those competitions up because Yianni himself is not shy about his goals, which include world and Olympic titles. He said as much in his interview after EIWAs, knowing full well that he plans to continue wrestling long after college no matter how many national titles he wins.

Weight Class Previews: 125 | 133

The two seed, Joey McKenna, has freestyle aspirations of his own, having earned a silver medal at Junior Worlds in 2014 and winning a U23 bronze in 2017. Last year, McKenna wrestled in Final X, finishing higher on the national team ladder of USA Wrestling than he did with his third place finish at NCAAs in Cleveland.

I set the weight up like this to let you all know that these are already some of the most accomplished young wrestlers in the country, and also to say, get used to seeing these guys for years to come.

Title Contenders

#1 Yianni Diakomihalis, Cornell

#2 Joey McKenna, Ohio State

#3 Nick Lee, Penn State

#5 Jaydin Eierman, Missouri

All-American Threats

#4 Josh Alber, Northern Iowa

#6 Mikey Carr, Illinois

#7 Mitch McKee, Minnesota

#8 Kanen Storr, Michigan

#9 Dom Demas, Oklahoma

#10 Nick Gil, Navy

#11 Tristan Moran, Wisconsin

#15 Kaid Brock, Oklahoma State

#16 Chad Red, Nebraska

I'm ready for all your "disrespect" talk. Bring it, please. I'm sleeping on all of you. And you know what, if I'm the reason you place or win a national title, because I put you in a different tier in a preview, you're welcome.

With all due respect to Josh Alber, who beat Jaydin Eierman, he's 0-3 against Yianni in college, and each time has lost worse than the previous match. Eierman has at least beaten Yianni in both folk and free, so that's why Alber isn't included in the top tier.

Mikey Carr earned himself the top seed at Big Tens, but also earned himself some questions heading into NCAAs with his eighth place finish at Big Tens. Two-time All-American Kaid Brock and last year's AA Chad Red are among the lower seeds that we can see finishing on the podium, because they've done it before. Sorry, Sa'Derian.

Session I

Matches to Watch:

Ian Parker vs Chad Red

Dom Demas vs Mitch Moore

AC Headlee vs Cam Kelly

Kyle Shoop vs Matt Findlay

Sa'Derian Perry vs Jamel Morris

Tristan Moran vs Max Murin

Parker and Red is a battle of two guys who both beat Dean Heil last year. Parker lost his final three duals of the season, and finished two spots below his seed at Big 12s; he was looking at a much better seed at the beginning of February. Red was just 12-11 against D1 competition but is a returning placer who just made the Big Ten finals. I'm expecting a war in round one.

Do yourself a favor and watch Demas' Big 12 final below, even if you've already seen it. Moore was in the ACC finals and has some upperbody and short offense tricks of his own. Somebody's probably getting dometossed in this match.

If you blinked, you probably missed it. @domonick_demas wins the 141 crown in just 54 seconds! ? #Big12WR pic.twitter.com/o4LNSK8TyL

— Oklahoma Wrestling (@OU_Wrestling) March 11, 2019

Cam Kelly's seed was hammered pretty hard on FRL 361, and UNC got a couple guys on the podium last year, so Headlee, who once wrestled at Who's Number One, could pull the first round upset. Kyle Shoop leads the nation in tech falls with 15 and Matt Findlay was having an excellent season before injuries seemed to derail it, but if he's healthy is extremely dangerous.

As mad as we are about the seeds, we're still even more mad about Eastern Michigan dropping their program. Shame on them, and shame on Bob Kustra. But at least Sa'Derian Perry has a new home in Old Dominion and another shot at placing. Jamel Morris just won ACCs and has only three losses on the year.

Tristan Moran did not wrestle against Iowa and didn't hit Max Murin at Big Tens. I think Moran has looked excellent all year and think very highly of what Coach Bono and his staff have done, however, Iowa needs Murin to do well, so I'm definitely watching this one to see if Murin can add anything to the Hawkeyes' team score.

Session II

The heartbreak round. Not quite as gut wrenching as Friday night, but this is where cute first round upsets turn into legitimate bracket busters and seniors on their last legs either bow out or continue the long slog through the backside to place.

Somehow Joey McKenna and Kaid Brock went from starting the season ranked #2 and #4, respectively, competing against each other in the All-Star Classic, to this being a second round match. McKenna enters NCAAs still ranked second, but Brock, who was nearly majored by McKenna in that match, is now the 15 seed. Both are two-time AAs so I'm still saying you should watch, but it has lost quite a bit of luster.

Mitch McKee has yet to place at NCAAs, but finally has a good seed. Nick Gil is a senior who could be the "finally AAs" guy this year. This one is a great clash of styles that actually plays right into fireworks as Gil loves underhooks and double unders, possibly setting up McKee to bomb him, going back to his freestyle/greco roots.

Tristan Moran literally just beat Mikey Carr last week, as did Max Murin. Now, Carr beat both of them during the regular season, but either way, we're going to get a rubber match.

Kanen Storr beat Dom Demas for third at CKLV and now they will meet again for the right to battle Yianni. Storr's two hi-c finishes were too clean for Demas, and I think Storr stays too positionally sound for a guy like Demas to be able to hit his various trips. Give me the Michigan Man with a couple quick finishes once again.

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Session III

Yianni over Storr

Eierman over Alber

Lee over Murin

McKenna over McKee

Not a ton of super high profile matchups in these quarterfinals. Yianni once pinned Storr at a Journeymen event all the way back in October of 2015. Those two are in totally different spots now, but Storr getting teched by McKenna, losing to Nick Lee and Mitch McKee by six points to Yianni being able to win by a major here.

I'm taking Eierman, put the point must be made that Alber and others seem to do better against Jaydin the more often they wrestle him. As a true freshman, Eierman pinned then redshirt freshman Alber at the UNI Open. Then in a dual late last season, Eierman took Alber down once in each period, with the one at the end of the second resulting in four nearfall off a cradle. In the middle of January this year, Eierman got a first period takedown, but Alber's takedown at the buzzer gave him the 4-3 win.

I'm 100% torn on who out of Max Murin and Tristan Moran is making it to Nick Lee, but either way, Lee is putting up double digits in that match. This is also the precise moment that Penn State knocks every other program out of this year's team race. The Indiana native probably won't be able to morph into a Jason Nolf or Bo Nickal type, but looking ahead to the era after those two graduate, Lee has huge team point potential to carry the Nittany Lions into the Aaron Brooks/Robbie Howard squads in a few years.

Much like Spencer Lee at 125, Joey McKenna has an amazing draw to the semis. Buckeye fans should be absolutely stoked about the other seven guys that landed in this bottom quadrant. Tuner's got upset potential, and Gil is an absolute pain to wrestle, but Mitch McKee is the favorite to come out and face McKenna. That one went 8-0 in the Big Ten quarters, with McKenna winning all three positions. He got two takedowns, a quick escape, and a turn plus riding time.

Session IV

Yianni 4-3 over Eierman

Nick Lee 6-5 over McKenna

For the fourth time in their college careers, and the sixth time overall including a couple freestyle matches, Yianni Diakomihalis will wrestle Jaydin Eierman. In both of the first matches, Eierman got his hand raised, which maps with just how difficult it is to beat someone that unorthodox when you've never faced them in that style before. Both Yianni's win last year in overtime of the NCAA semis and this year's 3-1 win in December came off of him attacking Eierman's left leg and then re-position his head to change direction. Whether that's how he beats him again this time or not, Yianni is likely one of the only guys who can specifically diagnose the areas where Eierman can be exposed, in real time.

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Penn State has not lost a semifinal at the NCAA tournament since 2015, when Jimmy Gulibon fell to Cory Clark. They're on a 16-0 run on Friday night championship side matches, a streak that will eventually end but I don't think it ends here. Joey McKenna is an incredible wrestler from an incredible program and he's beaten Lee twice. But all three of their matches were one point decisions for the victor. McKenna has scored the first takedown in each match, but the two times he won he also scored a last second takedown to end the first period. Among other adjustments, I think PSU cleans that up in what will probably be the best match of this bracket.

Session V

I don't feel terribly comfortable with my All-American picks, in large part due to the complete randomness of results this year, the odd seeding that created, and the clear parity at the weight. But the bracket is the bracket and I made my picks.

In the top half consi semi, we'll get Buckeye against Wolverine, which is normally juicy. But McKenna teched Storr in the dual, which doesn't leave much room to pick an upset, though it might just be a major this time. On the bottom half, Eierman will have Mitch McKee, a match we've never seen before. That of course favors Eierman, as well as just their general history in the three years of varsity they've had.

Alber beat Demas in a dual on January 27th, and it probably plays out that way again. As the nine seed, it shouldn't be terribly surprising that Demas places, but all year he was considered the "bracket buster" and it just kind of stinks when those guys get seeds like nine. Alber closes out his career on a win with over 100 victories for the Panther Train and the Schwab Mob.

McKee and Storr wrestle for fifth in a rematch of the Big Ten consi semis (which could go totally different if Demas beats Storr in round two). That consi semi match was goofy, as Storr won the takedown battle 2-1, but McKee got two reversals and a four point nearfall late. It's Saturday morning, so let's all hope for a similarly entertaining battle for the fans that dare attend the most fun session. Fans! Show up Saturday morning in Pittsburgh, you won't regret it.

McKenna vs Eierman (again). We've spent a ton of time breaking this one down over the years, and Joey is just a terrible, terrible matchup for Jaydin. Outside of the 2017 bloodround, when Eeirman majored McKenna 8-0, these matches have been one-sided. Joey closes out his career on a win and gets a similar sendoff to the one Nathan Tomasello got.

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Session VI

Yianni 8-6 over Nick Lee

These two have only met once before, a 12-7 win in the semis of last season's Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open. Both are clearly different wrestlers since then and are much closer to their fully evolved, maximum potential college forms. As good as Nick Lee is at keeping a high pace though, Yianni is one of the best in the country at turning your attacks into his points. He's a better scrambler, can earn riding time on top, and is actually an underrated leg attacker himself.

Both are true sophomores, so we could see this one as many as three more times in the NCAA finals. Lee is too wide open for this to be a boring match, and I think he gets at least one takedown of his own. But I see Yianni getting three takedowns, perhaps one in each period. Lee gets out each time, and neither tries to ride the other for an extended period of time.

Nomad's AA Picks

1. Yianni
2. Nick Lee
3. McKenna
4. Eierman
5. McKee
6. Storr
7. Alber
8. Demas