Summer has turned to fall, which means the leaves (and Flo’s logo) are changing from green to red. It also means folkstyle has returned, with the official start of the NCAA season coming this Friday!

Preview szn will take into account many things, from weight class rankings to redshirt reports to the crystal ball rankings, to try to give you as clear a picture as possible of what’s in store for the 2019-20 season. The specter of Olympic Trials will hang over the year, impacting weight class changes and the depth of some brackets at the NCAA tournament in Minneapolis.

At 184, a national champ has bumped up, only one All-American from last year's weight returns, and a Junior world medalist enters the fray. Meanwhile, an NCAA finalist is taking an Olympic Redshirt, and two placers from 197 two years ago are in the field. We will also be getting into the potential athletes right on the bubble of placing.

NCAA Previews: 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174

The Favorite: #1 Zahid Valencia, Arizona State

Now that it's clear Zahid isn't taking an Olympic Redshirt, the question becomes how will freestyle impact his final season in Tempe? It's already affected his weight class, moving up to 184 to better prepare himself for 86kg at the senior level. He's yet to qualify for the Olympic Trials, so he'll be doing at least one domestic freestyle tournament in the next two months, and might potentially go overseas in the second semester.

Focusing back on folkstyle, though, the redshirt senior from California is one of the two biggest favorites entering this season. He's #2 in our pound-for-pound ranking and second on our preseason Hodge ranking as well. That'll happen when a two-time NCAA champ enters a weight class with one returning AA from 2019 (though there are four overall).

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

With guys like Bo Nickal and Jason Nolf in our very recent memory, it's easy to take for granted just how difficult and special it is to earn three national titles. Even when you're a heavy favorite like Zahid, winning is hard. It requires talent, desire, good coaching, luck, work ethic, and remaining healthy. For the fifth-year senior, balancing his freestyle goals will only add to the level of difficulty. But this is what he signed up for, and we'll all be watching intently.

The Contenders

#2 Ben Darmstadt, Cornell

#3 Dakota Geer, Oklahoma State

#7 Shakur Rasheed, Penn State

#8 Taylor Venz, Nebraska

It was pretty difficult separating the contenders from the rest of the field, so I went with a somewhat objective metric: guys who have placed before. That gives us two All-Americans from 197 at the 2018 NCAA tournament, and one AA apiece from the last two years of nationals at 184lbs.

Ben Darmstadt was #38 on the 2016 Big Board, took a greyshirt, and then made the semis as a two seed before getting pinned twice in a hard semi slide to sixth. A back injury kept him out for all of last season, time the Big Red staff believes he will get back in the form of a medical redshirt. He'll have an insane length advantage over everyone down at 184, but it remains to be seen what, if any, effects the cut will have on him.

When the Cowboys made all their weight change moves, it was Dakota Geer who figured to be the odd man out. Whether they kept in Chandler Rogers at 165 or not, Geer was either going to be the least likely AA of the bunch or the man on the bench. But it was him, not two-time placer Joe Smith or returning AA Jacobe Smith, who landed on the podium, from the 26 seed no less. That lands him as the preseason #3, but this is a guy who once wrestled in Who's #1 and was at the top of the nation's richest wrestling state.

Shakur Rasheed was the center of a roster battle in 2018 but won the 197lb spot and his seventh-place points at NCAAs helped carry the Nittany Lions to another national title. He switched places with Bo Nickal, dropping down to 184 last year, and battled injuries that limited his effectiveness at the national tournament. He failed to place after dropping two tight ones to eventual All-Americans Chip Ness and Geer, but was granted a sixth year, though if he can't go PSU just has top recruit Aaron Brooks waiting in the wings.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Willie picked Taylor Venz to make the finals in his crystal ball rankings, a not entirely unreasonable notion. He placed fourth as a seven seed in 2018, only losing to Myles Martin and Emery Parker that year. Out of the nine seed last year, he made the Round of 12 with losses to graduated AAs Ryan Preisch and Zack Zavatsky. Venz is very good on top, with 23 techs or pins as a freshman and sophomore, which is also the position that'll carry him this year.

Best of the Rest

#4 Nino Bonaccorsi, Pittsburgh

#5 Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa

#6 Sam Colbray, Iowa State

#9 Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech

#10 Louie DePrez, Binghamton

#15 Trent Hidlay, NC State

My great hope is that Keith Gavin or one of his assistants uses a pitch counter to track all of Nino Bonaccorsi's shots this season. It may seem like a big jump up to being ranked fourth after not placing as a freshman, but that's just the makeup of 184 right now. Given that his head coach was a 174lb national champ and former 84kg world team member, plus Bonaccorsi's high school pedigree, being this highly ranked right away isn't actually all that odd.

Interesting news out of Cedar Falls that we knew has been coming is two-time bloodrounder Taylor Lujan coming up in weight for his final year at UNI. You've heard this in other previews, but the boot scootin' son of a gun was part of that ballyhooed 2015 recruiting class, and has to fill the shoes of the graduated NCAA champ. The good people of Georgia will be intently watching Lujan's final collegiate season.

Now in his second year down at 184, Sam Colbray won the unofficial Iowa college state title during the year, beating both Wilcke and Foster, but then fell to Foster at Big 12s. He was very clearly a top-10 guy, with single-digit losses last year.

We are constantly getting updates from coaches about how guys look in the room, what type of effect they have on the program, and the reports out of Blacksburg have been glowing for Hunter Bolen for over a year now. The Scuffle finalist is back from redshirt and is going to be a leader for the Hokies.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Binghamton is the land of the DePrez family, and Lou is carrying the torch right now. He had 15 bonus-point wins and really only had two hiccups that he couldn't overcome last year: Foster and Preisch, both of whom have graduated.

Wrestling's in the family for Trent Hidlay. His brother has already been an NCAA finalist and fourth placer, Trent was #18 on the 2018 Big Board, and now their brother Heath lives down in Raleigh with them. He joins Zahid, Geer, and Colbray as current 184s who have wrestled at WNO. Trent has started to expand his offensive arsenal beyond his underhook, but it is still devastating and a little different than how most guys use underhooks.

Sleepers and Landmines

#11 Cash Wilcke, Iowa

#12 Corey Hazel, Lock Haven

#13 Cam Caffey, Michigan State

#14 Dylan Wisman, Missouri

A rather bland group of sleepers and landmines in the sense that it's the next four ranked guys, but they do actually fall under this umbrella. Wilcke had a controversial overtime loss to eventual finalist Max Dean in the second round of NCAAs, split with Venz last year, and lost twice in the Round of 12 when he was up at 197. It's Wilcke's last season, and Iowa is in position for a team title. Sounds like an awfully dangerous out.

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Two-time qualifier Corey Hazel missed all of December and most of January, wrestling just 22 matches and only picking up one bonus win, seeming not at full strength for the year. With two straight top-20 finishes, Lock Haven is just starting to be one of those programs where any guys that get to the tournament are dangerous.

Going through these previews, it's clear we're seeing a new and improved Michigan State program. They had an All-American last year, two Junior Greco world team members, and are bringing in a recruiting class with four Big Boarders on it. Caffey was one of those world teamers, and only got up to #17 in the rankings last year.

It took three years for Wisman to qualify, but he finally did last year for the Tigers. It even came after missing six weeks of the season, and featured a win over finalist Max Dean but also a loss to non-qualifier Carless Looney, who had a losing record. Wisman is the ultimate wildcard entering his final season in Columbia.

New Blood

#17 Gavin Hoffman, Ohio State

Billy Janzer, Rutgers

Jack Jessen, Northwestern

Zach Braunagel, Illinois

A little light on new blood, and Hoffman lost his wrestle-off to Zach Steiner the other day. We're all still a little surprised he's down at 184 after being a 195 and 220 for most of high school. Janzer won his wrestle-off over Willie Scott and should be in the lineup this weekend, so we'll get our first look at him.

A couple boys from the Land of Lincoln are breaking into the lineups for both of Illinois' Big Ten programs. Jessen and Braunagel are more known for their freestyle acumen but will be thrown to the fire in that January/February conference dual grind.

Key Dates

Nov. 22: Penn State at Arizona State

Nov. 23: NC State at Cornell

Dec. 6-7: Cliff Keen Las Vegas

Jan. 6: Iowa State at Arizona State

Jan. 18: Pittsburgh at Oklahoma State

Jan. 19: Virginia Tech at Cornell

Jan. 25: Oklahoma State at Northern Iowa

Jan. 26: Oklahoma State at Iowa State

Feb. 1: NC State at Pittsburgh

Zahid only has three matchups on his schedule with guys ranked highly in the preseason, and I'm curious how many of them end up happening. One of those dates is against Shakur Rasheed, which as you will see is my predicted NCAA final. That's followed up a couple weeks later by a potential CKLV final with the preseason #2 in Ben Darmstadt.

Speaking of Darmstadt, will Trent Hidlay be able to underhook him on November 23 in Ithaca? As for Dakota Geer, he's got an excellent three-match stretch in late January where he faces the preseason #4, #5, and #6 ranked wrestlers all in a row.

Nomad's Predictions

1. Zahid Valencia, Arizona State
2. Shakur Rasheed, Penn State
3. Hunter Bolen, Virginia Tech
4. Taylor Venz, Nebraska
5. Louie DePrez, Binghamton
6. Nino Bonaccorsi, Pittsburgh
7. Trent Hidlay, NC State
8. Ben Darmstadt, Cornell

Zahid's the easy pick. Two through eight, though, is a complete and utter crapshoot. So, if healthy, I went with the guy from the team that is 37-6 in their last 43 NCAA semifinals. Rasheed is best suited for 184 weight-wise, is constantly looking to put people on their back, and has the same mentality that has more well-touted teammates have.

As I mentioned, the expectations out of Blacksburg are sky high for Bolen, and Venz has already placed in the fourth spot before. DePrez is likely the best "small program" guy in the country, and is approximately 82-0 against Bonaccorsi since high school.