Turtlenecks, eggnog, and holiday break wrestling. Truly the most wonderful time of the year. Two of the best NCAA tournaments of the year, Midlands and Southern Scuffle will be live on Flo Dec. 29-30 and Jan. 1-2.

Watch the 57th Ken Kraft Midlands LIVE on Flo

December 29-30 | 10:30 AM Eastern

Before getting into the upperweight preview, check out Nomad’s lightweight preview and David Bray’s middleweight preview. 

174 Pounds: 8 ranked

#3 Michael Kemerer, Iowa

#4 Dylan Lydy, Purdue

#5 Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa

#11 Anthony Mantanona, Oklahoma

#17 Kevin Parker, Princeton

#20 Jacob Covaciu, Indiana

#21 Ben Harvey, Army

#22 Joey Gunther, Illinois

Commentary: We’ve got a good ol’ fashioned 3, 4, 5 showdown at 174 will Michael Kemerer, Dylan Lydy, and Bryce Steiert. At #3, Michael Kemerer will be the favorite to win the weight. After sitting out last year injured, he’s 4-0 so far this year with a major decision over #16 Marcus Coleman and a tech fall over #17 Kevin Parker. However, this will be the first time Kemerer will be facing off against top-ten guys at 174.

Dylan Lydy and Bryce Steiert squared off in the CKLV finals earlier this month and it came down to OT takedown from Lydy.

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Lydy is a perfect 15-0 and that loss is Steiert’s only loss of the season. These two are extremely close. This semifinal will be an excellent chance for Steiert to get revenge or for Lydy to cement himself above Steiert.

Anthony Mantanona, aka Ant Man, is a bit of a wildcard that is fun to watch whether he wins or loses. He wrestled Lydy to 5-3 decision loss in Vegas, but Lydy really controlled that match. Ant Man is clearly a step below the top three guys at this weight, but like I said...wildcard. 

Kevin Parker, Jacob Covaciu, Ben Harvey, and Bratke’s favorite wrestler Joey Gunther could honestly end up any number of ways depending on how the bracket is drawn. So far this season, Covaciu has a win over Harvey, Harvey has a win over Gunther, and Parker is just 2-2 with two top-five losses and two solid wins. 

Rader’s Picks: 1) Kemerer, Iowa 2) Lydy, Purdue 3) Steiert, UNI 4) Mantanona, Oklahoma

184 Pounds: 8 ranked

#4 Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa

#9 Nelson Brands, Iowa

#11 Tanner Harvey, American

#12 Andrew Morgan, Campbell

#13 Noah Stewart, Army

#14 Trevor Allard, Bloomsburg

#19 Travis Stefanik, Princeton

#21 Zach Braunagel, Illinois

Commentary: 184 is pretty much Taylor Lujan’s weight to lose. The UNI Panther is a three-time NCAA qualifier at 174. Now at 184 this year, he is 9-2 with losses to #2 Trent Hidlay and #3 Hunter Bolen, neither of which will be in Chicago. Lujan losing would be a big upset that I don’t see happening.

It will be interesting to see how the seeds play out. Andrew Spey currently has Iowa freshman Nelson Brands ranked #9 because of his ranked wins over Sammy Colbray and Matthew Waddell, but in his last match, Brands lost to #14 Travis Stefanik. That match was just 7-6, however, and the second half of it was all Brands. A very winnable rematch for Brands. 

Obviously being ranked 11-14, Tanner Harvey, Andrew Morgan, Noah Stewart, and Trevor Allard are all super close. The only head-to-head matchup between the four this season came between Allard and Stewart in the Black Knight Invitational finals.

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Harvey, an NCAA qualifier last year, is 10-1 so far this season with a 6-5 loss to Bolen. Andrew Morgan was also an NCAA qualifier last year (at 174) and has a close loss to Hunter Bolen this season (TB-2 11-10). However, he also has losses to Cameron Caffey and Colt Doyle. 

And don't forget about Cash Wilke from Iowa. This tournament will be used to determine who will get the starting position moving forward. Brands has looked more impressive this year, but Wilke is still three-time NCAA qualifier.

Even Iowa's third string true freshman 184-pounder, Abe Assad, could make some noise here. Assad is Cadet World bronze medalist and the redshirt I am most excited to see compete.

Seeds are clearly going to hard to determine, but very important.

Rader’s Picks: 1) Lujan, UNI 2) Harvey, American 3) Brands, Iowa 4) Stewart, Army

197 Pounds: 7 ranked

#2 Jacob Warner, Iowa

#3 Pat Brucki, Princeton

#4 Jacob Holschlag, Northern Iowa

#7 Thomas Lane, Cal Poly

#8 Christian Brunner, Purdue

#9 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma

#14 Jay Aiello, Virginia

Commentary: With six of the top-ten wrestlers in the country, 197 at Midlands will have huge NCAA implications. After beating Pat Brucki in their dual earlier this month, Warner will most likely get the top seed. However, it came down to a last second takedown for Warner and the series is now tied at one match a piece. 

Holschlag is a question mark as he got injured in his first match of the season and hasn’t competed since. Coach Schwab has said that Holschlag will be returning this season, just not when. If he does compete, Holschlag will obviously be a huge factor. The Iowa native was an All-American two years ago before sitting out last year with an injury.

Thomas Lane, Christian Brunner, and Jake Woodley finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at CKLV this year. Brunner beat Woodley 2-1 in the semis with an escape and a riding time point before Lane beat Woodley on the backside for third. 

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The last time Lane and Brunner wrestled back at the 2017 Midlands when Brunner won 8-1. 

Jay Aeillo rounds out 197’s ranked wrestlers. Aeillo was an NCAA qualifier last year and took eighth at CKLV this year, where Brunner beat him 4-2.

Rader’s picks: 1) Brucki, Princeton 2) Warner, Iowa 3) Brunner, Purdue 4) Lane, Cal Poly

285 Pounds: 6 ranked

#3 Tony Cassioppi, Iowa

#4 Trent Hillger, Wisconsin

#7 Matt Stencel, Central Michigan

#12 Jere Heino, Campbell

#15 Carter Isley, Northern Iowa

#19 Garrett Hoffman, Bucknell

Commentary: Tony Cassioppi is one of the best freshman in the country. Although he does wrestle like a heavyweight, he keeps a solid pace and his pinning ability and desire has been well documented. After a 20-2 redshirt season, he’s 4-0 so far this year including a 3-2 win over Trent Hillger. Cassioppi has clearly made strides since last season, but his two losses last year both came at Midlands. He was majored by Heino on the front side before getting pinned by Stencel on the backside.

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Can Cassioppi stay undefeated or will his Midlands look more like last year?

Carter Isley and Garrett Hoffman are two more ranked wrestlers who will be trying to upset the top four here. Isley is tough and just took fifth at CKLV. Hoffman is a small and athletic heavyweight. The Bucknell junior sat out last season with an injury and is 1-0 so far in his first season up at heavyweight. 

Rader’s Predictions: 1) Cassioppi, Iowa 2) Stencel, Central Michigan 3) Hilger, Wisconsin