The longest anyone has ever had to wait for an NCAA Tournament since World War II ended is finally over. The competitors have made their way to St Louis, and we are going to crown ten new champions for the first time since 2019.

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Can Michael Kemerer get it done? Can Carter Starocci become the next Penn State 174-pound national champion? Or can Mikey Labriola, Logan Massa, Demetrius Romero, or someone else from the field breakthrough? While Kemerer enters as the clear favorite, there are a handful of wrestlers capable of winning on any given day and should cause some fireworks in St. Louis.

Before we get into it, the numbers you'll see below are not our rankings, but what each wrestler is seeded. 

Title Contenders

#1 Michael Kemerer, Iowa

#2 Demetrius Romero, Utah Valley

#3 Carter Starocci, Penn State

#4 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska

#5 Logan Massa, Michigan

The top five seeds at the weight are a combined 51-6 on the year, and outside of Starocci's loss to Donnell Washington, every loss came to another wrestler seeded in the top five. 

The wildcard here is Demetrius Romero. The Utah Valley senior put together a perfect season, but due to the Big Ten rule that they could not wrestle out of conference, he didn't get to his shot against the other elite wrestlers in this weight. The only Big Ten foe in this field he's faced previously in his career is Logan Massa who he split with at the 2018 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. 

After a rough season-opening loss to Washington, Starocci bounced back in a big way beating Massa, Kaleb Romero, and Mikey Labriola. While he wasn't able to get past Kemerer in the Big Ten finals, he showed he's more than capable of wrestling on the big stage on Saturday night.

While Labriola hasn't gotten his shot at Kemerer this year, he gave him everything he wanted last year in Carver-Hawkeye. To get that rematch, he will first have to go through Massa in the quarterfinals, but that wasn't a problem in the Big Ten Championships third-place match as he majored the Wolverine. 

Watch Romero beat Massa at the 2018 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite.

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All-American Threats

#6 Andrew McNally, Kent State

#7 Kaleb Romero, Ohio State

#8 Daniel Bullard, NC State

#9 Donnell Washington, Indiana

#10 Peyton Mocco, Missouri

#12 Bernie Truax, Cal Poly

#14 Hayden Hastings, Wyoming

As I said in my 149-pound preview, I could probably list a dozen more wrestlers, but I don't feel like listing out nearly every wrestler in the entire bracket. Above you'll see wrestlers who I either have placing in my bracket, falling in the bloodround, or on the cusp of the bloodround. 

In my opinion, we will see a Romero-Romero quarterfinal, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Kaleb come out on top of that. If the Buckeye does win, he will likely get another shot at Starocci who he has gone to tiebreakers with and lost 2-0 to at the Big Ten Championships. 

Donnell Washington has shown he can go with the best in this bracket. He's beaten Starocci and put Labriola to his back. 

Daniel Bullard has just one blemish on the season to Thomas Flitz but is so dangerous because of how tough he is on top. 

Like Demetrius Romero, Bernie Truax also quietly put together a great season out West. He pushed Romero to sudden victory and has two wins over Trey Munoz. 

Watch Washington beat Starocci on opening weekend.

Sleepers And Landmines

#15 Thomas Flitz, App State

#18 Dustin Plott, Oklahoma State

#23 Anthony Mantanona, Oklahoma

Two wrestlers who I think can make some noise in this bracket will hit in the first round. As I mentioned above, Flitz is the only wrestler with a win over Bullard this season. His first-round opponent, Dustin Plott, if healthy, is someone I could see putting together a run. 

Even though he is the #23 seed, anytime that Anthony Mantanona is in a bracket, he's a threat to anyone he wrestles. No matter what the score is, he can end the match from anywhere, and someone no one wants to draw. 

Watch Mantanona pin the #6 seed in this bracket, Andrew McNally at the 2019 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite.

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Anticipated Matchups

#1 Michael Kemerer, Iowa vs #4 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska

As I touched on earlier, this match was awesome in the dual last season, and I expect another dog fight in what would be a semifinal. 

Watch Kemerer and Labriola's battle from last season's dual.

#7 Kaleb Romero, Ohio State vs #2 Demetrius Romero, Utah Valley

Another match I briefly discussed earlier. This would Demetrius' first test against a Big Ten opponent all season.

#5 Logan Massa, Michigan vs #4 Mikey Labriola, Nebraska

I know it was a blowout in the Big Ten third-place bout, but I believe we'll see a match better version of Massa this time around.

Predictions

1. Michael Kemerer, Iowa

2. Carter Starocci, Penn State

3. Mikey Labriola, Nebraska

4. Demetrius Romero, Utah Valley

5. Logan Massa, Michigan

6. Kaleb Romero, Ohio State

7. Donnell Washington, Indiana

8. Daniel Bullard, NC State

Kemerer was never really threatened in his Big Ten final with Starocci and I don't see anything changing in St. Louis. The Hawk's toughest test could come against Labriola if the Cornhusker is able to get past Massa in the quarterfinals. 

Bloodround Results

Massa over Peyton Mocco, Missouri

Washington over Hayden Hastings, Wyoming

K. Romero over Bernie Truax, Cal Poly

Bullard over Andrew McNally, Kent State