The NCAA tournament is chaos. Nothing is a given and with the best 33 wrestlers at each weight, there are matchups right out of the gate that we have our eyes on.

When sitting down to carve this out I thought we'd go target all the Thursday matches but there are so many juicy Round 1 matches that we'll stick to those.

Best Matches of Round 1

#10 - 125: (19) Alex Mackall (Iowa St.) vs. (15) Sean Fausz (NC State)

The removal of Millhof and the subsequent re-draw made for this interesting first-round match. Mackall had a fine season and a 3rd place finish at Big 12's. He'll face the always dangerous Sean Fausz and the winner will get Spencer Lee.

#9 - 149: (13) Anthony Artalona, Penn vs. (20) Tommy Thorn, Minnesota

A lot of people see a path for EIWA Champ Artalona to make a run. Thorn hasn't been his All American self this season, but he presents a neat matchup for Artalona Round1. \

#8 - 141: (22) Max Murin, Iowa vs. (11) Tristan Moran, Wisconsin

The opening bout in a quad that should see all Big Ten competition. These two have never met. Moran was 6th, Murin 7th at at B1G's.

#7 - 285: (29) Sam Stoll, Iowa vs. (4) Jordan Wood, Lehigh

We all know how good Sam Stoll is when he's going well. But injuries have plagued him to the extent that he needed an at-large bid and moved him to the 29 seed. He gets EIWA champ Wood in the first round.

#6 - 133: (13) Austin Gomez, Iowa State vs. (20) Brandon Paetzell, Lehigh

Gomez is a darkhorse pick to go on a run with a second-round match looming with 4-seed Mickey Phillippi. But first, Gomez will have Paetzell who beat Erneste and Bridges early in the season.

#5 - 157: (26) Quincy Monday, Princeton vs. (7) Larry Early, Old Dominion

Early is really hitting his stride at 22-5 and a win over last year's finalist Hidlay. True Frosh Monday is coming on at the end of the year, winning 11 of his last 13 matches.

#4 - 141: (17) Ian Parker, Iowa State vs. (16) Chad Red, Nebraska

Red, the Big Ten runner-up, sorta got hosed here in seeding. As a result he'll face a very tough Ian Parker. Winner gets Yianni.

#3 - 149: (20) Josh Maruca, Arizona St. vs. (13) Pat Lugo, Iowa

Really good bout here and one Iowa really hopes to have for their podium chances. They didn't hit this year, but Maruca won 4-1 at Midlands last season.

#2 - 184: (7) Nick Reenan, NC State vs. (26) Dakota Geer, OK State

Nine months ago Reenan made the Finals of the Senior World Team Trials. He's been dealing with an injury which makes this matchup very interesting against Geer, who is seeded very low because most of his time was spent at 197 this year. It also has big implications in the team race.

#1 - 165: (1) Alex Marinelli, Iowa vs. (33) Joe Smith, OK State

By far the most intriguing Round 1 match. Marinell just won B1G's by beating 2x defending champ Vincenzo Joseph. Smith is a 2x AA and a threat to the top seed in the worst draw in NCAA history.