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 10 new champs for the first time since 2019.

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A much improved 197-pound weight class saw an infusion of talent, as a large portion of the 2020 national qualifiers returned and a solid crop of new light-heavies either bumped up from lower weight classes or got their first taste of varsity in 2021.

One of the most prominent names that bulked up, all the way from 174-pounds, is three-time All-American Myles Amine, who took the entire 2019-20 season off from folkstyle while on an Olympic redshirt. The focus on qualifying for Tokyo paid off, as Amine, who competes for the Apennine Principality of San Marino, placed fifth at the 2019 UWW World Championships, punching his ticket to the Olympic Games. 

His quest for an NCAA title in his fourth trip to the tournament will be fraught with worthy opponents, both from within his conference and without. 

Title Contenders

#1 Myles Amine, Michigan - In Amine’s last full-time folkstyle season (2018-19), Amine took third at NCAAs and only lost to NCAA champs (Zahid Valencia and Mark Hall). Myles had a couple of tight matches in the first two rounds but his decisive 7-3 finals victory over Eric Schultz, the #2 seed in the tournament, bodes well for his chances in St. Louis. 

Watch Amine in the 2021 Big Ten finals:

#2 Eric Schultz, Nebraska - Schultz has been a rock of consistency the last two seasons. The Illinois native was undefeated in 2021 going into the Big Ten finals and was the #3 seed going into the 2020 tournament.

#3 Kordell Norfleet, Arizona State - Norfleet is another Illinois native, and is on the verge of a breakout season. He enters the tournament as the undefeated Pac-12 champ. 

Watch Norfleet pin the 2021 #8 seed, Stephen Buchanan:

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#4 AJ Ferrari, Oklahoma State - Ferrari has been on the national radar since establishing himself as a bluechip recruit early in his high school career. He’s been making headlines ever since, and will be one of the most intensely followed wrestlers at the tournament. The true freshman has a 3-2 loss to Noah Adams, but then outplaced the West Virginian at the Big 12 tournament, which is won, nearly by major, over Stephen Buchanan, who is 3-0 against Adams. 

Expect a lot of car puns in the media if Ferrari wins a title. Also expect him to do a lot of double legs, which is Ferarri’s bread and butter, thanks to his explosiveness and haunch power. 

#5 Jacob Warner, Iowa - Expect the bout between Warner and Ferrari to be the most-watched of the quarterfinals if the Hawkeye and Cowboy both win their first two matches. Warner has been in the top tier of 197-pounders since his freshman season.

#6 Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt - Nino is one of several All-American contenders who moved up from a lower weight class. The Western PA native and 2021 ACC champ was a bloodrounder his freshman year and was ranked 5th in the nation going into the 2020 tournament.

All-American Threats

#7 Rocky Elam, Missouri

#8 Stephen Buchanan, Wyoming

#9 Noah Adams, West Virginia

#10 Cameron Caffey, Michigan State

#11 Jay Aiello, Virginia

#12 Lucas Davison, Northwestern

#13 Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State

#14 Greg Bulsak, Clarion

It’s been a topsy-turvy season at this weight class, which has made it fun but has also been the source of endless consternation for rankers and sordid wrestling pundits. The Big 12 has been responsible for a good deal of discombobulation. 

Noah Adams was the consensus number one going into the 2021 season. But Stephen Buchanan, who was 0-2 against Adams last season, decided to flip the script, and beat Adams three times, which are the only losses Adams has taken in two seasons. 

But Buchanan was pinned by Norfleet and beaten soundly by Ferrari. The previous year, Buchanan’s true freshman campaign, he suffered 13 losses. Meanwhile, Tanner Sloan lost to Marcus Coleman in the Big 12 tournament after beating him in the regular season.

Then there’s the ACC. Bonaccorsi’s lone loss on the season is to true freshman Isaac Trumble of NC State, who later lost to Duke’s Kaden Russell, who is 1-6 on the season. 

Greg Bulsak added to the chaos. Bulsak took an undefeated record and top 10 ranking to the MAC Championship but lost to unranked (at the time) Benjamin Smith of Cleveland State. 

Which makes this an incomplete list of All-American contenders, which could honestly be expanded to include just about every entrant. This is going to be a difficult bracket to predict, even if you had a perfect astrological reading, especially if, like me, you're Gemini and can expect the unexpected. 

Sleepers And Landmines

#24 Benjamin Smith, Cleveland State - As we just discussed, Smith beat Bulsak at MACs. He's a very difficult match for Noah Adams to start the tournament. 

#26 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma - This is Woodley’s third trip to the NCAAs. The Pennsylvania native rarely takes losses to unranked wrestlers throughout his entire career. Though he has 7 losses on the season, they are to wrestlers ranked #4,  #5, #8 & #14. It’s a weird year for seeds, but 26 seems a bit harsh for the Sooner.

#28 Nick Reenan, North Carolina State - Nick Reenan was in Final X, people forget that. 

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Anticipated Matchups

Round of 32 - #7 Rocky Elam, Missouri vs #26 Jake Woodley, Oklahoma

As a true freshman, Elam has not had a ton of collegiate experience. His win over Stephen Buchanan via injury default likely helped his seed, as his only other win over a seeded wrestler is #24 seed, Benjamin Smith. Drawing Woodley in the first round is also bad luck for the #7 seed.

Round of 32 - #17 JT Brown, Army vs #16 Jake Jakobsen, Lehigh

A rematch of the EIWA finals in round 1. Sometimes that happens. 

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Speaking of intraconference rivalries, we could see quite a few of them in the round of 16 if they higher seeds prevail in their first matches of the tournament.

Round of 16 - #9 Noah Adams, West Virginia vs #8 Stephen Buchanan, Wyoming

Though we know it was not intentional, the seeding of this pair at 8/9 is not unlike that of a cruel joke. Noah Adams is 45-0 over the last two seasons… if you don’t count his three loses in 2021 to Wyoming’s Stephen Buchanan. That Adams will have likely to avenge those losses in round 2 to reach the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament is more than a little preposterous. But, asi es la vida, and on we go!

Round of 16 - #13 Tanner Sloan vs #4 AJ Ferrari, Oklahoma State

Tanner was having what looked to be a breakout season until this year’s Big 12 tournament when the 2019 junior world team member lost to AJ Ferrari in the semifinals and then Marcus Coleman on the backside. A rematch with the Cowboy true frosh in round 2 was probably not what the Jackrabbits were hoping for in Sloan’s NCAA draw.

Round of 16 - #11 Jay Aiello, Virginia vs #6 Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt

Likewise for the Cavalier faithful, having to go through the guy who just beat you in the ACC finals in round two is not what Aiello was looking for either. But then, a chance for revenge may just be what the doctor ordered, for both Jay and Tanner. 

Predictions

1) Myles Amine, Michigan

2) Nino Bonaccorsi, Pitt

3) AJ Ferrari, Oklahoma State

4) Eric Schultz, Nebraska

5) Kordell Norfleet, Arizona State

6) Jacob Warner, Iowa

7) Cam Caffey, Michigan State

8) Stephen Buchannan, Wyoming

R12) Jake Woodley, Oklahoma

R12) Greg Bulsak, Clarion

R12) Tanner Sloan, South Dakota State

R12) Noah Adams, West Virginia

Bonaccorsi over Norfleet and Schultz? Bold picks, perhaps, but I’m banking on Bonaccorsi having a breakthrough performance. I’m not a big fan of calling pins, “flukes”, but I also think losing to Isaac Trumble reflects his true talent level. 

I’m wrong, so be it. It’s happened before. But if I’m right, you can be sure that I will be all over twitter, gloating for days. 

The rest of the picks are fairly conservative, though I’m expecting far more chaos. Inevitably, we'll see how wrong I am this weekend, afterwards, I will take credit for motivating all the wrestlers to prove me wrong when they win after I picked against them.