125
So I’m assuming everyone else is as concerned as I am about McD’s prospects for his 3rd national title (let alone a 4th appearance in the NCAA finals). He really struggled against the 8th seed, Malone, in the quarters match, gutting out a 5-4 win on a riding time point. Then a painful match vs. Delgado in the final. Going into the weekend, I had the seeds as:
1. Waters (Mizzou) 25-0 (W over McDonough, 2 Ws over Garrett)
2. McDonough (Iowa) 17-2 (W over Megaludis, Garrett, Ls to Waters, Delgado)
3. Megaludis (PSU) 20-2 (W over Delgado, Garrett, Ls to McDonough, Zanetta)
4. Garnett (VA Tech) 25-2 (W over Delgado, Ls to Soto, Kraisser)
5. Delgado (Illinois) 18-3 (Ls to Megaludis, Garnett, Cory Clark)
So Delgado knocks off both McDonough and Megaludis. Waters wins the MACs, Garnett wins ACCs (where he avenges his loss to Kraisser). Now, we could see Delgado jump into the #2 seed, but there’s a chance Garnett gets it based on his win over Delgado in the Midlands final. I’ll give Delgado the benefit of the doubt as he just dominated the #2 and #3 ranked wrestlers this weekend. Not sure if they’ll jump Garnett over McD (McD does have a W over Garnett, but it was in the 2011 Midlands final), but I’m guessing they’ll give McD the nod based on his career resume.
1. Waters
2. Delgado
3. McDonough
4. Garnett
5. Megaludis
133
After dominating all season, it was strange to see Tony struggle a bit on Saturday in a 9-5 win over Quiroga and a 3-1 win over Graff. I’m chalking it up to him being so focused on taking down Stieber that he was just doing what he could to get to the final. The Graff matchup had to be a bit of a mental hurdle – Graff knocked Tony off in the 2011 Big 10 semi – if Tony would have won that match, Iowa wins the tourney as they only lost by 1 point to PSU in the conference tournament. It was Stieber and Tony as the #1 and #2 seeds this weekend; it will be the same in DSM.
141
After a disastrous end to the regular season (he came into Big 10s off 3 consecutive losses), it was good to see Ballweg have success this weekend. A very nice win over Dardanes in the semis. Unfortunately, Stieber looked to be on a completely different level in the final. Ballweg had no answer for Stieber’s leg attacks. However, Ballweg did some good things for his NCAA seeding. Pre-Conference tournament, I had it:
1. Maple (OU) 22-0
2. Stieber (Ohio St) 27-0
3. Mangrum (Oregon St) 32-4 (Ls to Stieber, Futrell, Undrakhbayar, Jackson)
4. Port (Edinboro) 28-3 (Ls to Maple, Stieber, Mangrum)
5. Henderson (UNC) 30-6 (2 Ls to Port, L to Cimato, 3 Ls to Carter)
6. Undrakhbayar (Citadel) 34-4 (2 Ls to Henderson, L to Nevinger, Carter)
7. Nevinger (Cornell) 32-9 (L to Maple, Stieber, Graff, Mangrum, Vaith, Hucke,
8. Dardanes (MN) 22-6 (L to Stieber, Mangrum, Nevinger, Ballweg, Feikert, Vaith)
9. Ballweg (IA) 18-4 (L to Stieber, Port, Nevinger, Dardanes)
The top 6 all won their conference tournaments. Nevinger got knocked off in the semis of EIWAs, but came back to finish 3rd. Based on conference results, I don’t see a lot of changes to seeding:
1. Maple
2. Stieber
3. Mangrum
4. Port
5. Henderson
6. Undrakhbayar
7. Nevinger
8. Ballweg
9. Dardanes
149
Dwieza really gave it a go this weekend. Too bad we didn’t have any other serviceable 141 pounders on the roster this year. That would have allowed Dwieza to bump up to 149 for the full season, rather than backup Ballweg and go to 149 for the Big 10s. I think he’ll do just fine next year at 141. I’m trying to stay positive, but I’m worried 149 may be a lot of what we saw this year.
157
While it was disappointing, that semis result wasn’t exactly shocking. DSJ barely knocked off Green in the dual this year – just a bad matchup for him. Good to see DSJ come back to finish 3rd. That win over Alton in the consis was huge. Now as far as seeding for NCAA, I’m really curious to see what the committee does. Pre conference tourneys, I think it would have been:
1. St. John (IA) 22-1 (L to Bradley)
2. Welch (NW) 25-1 (L to Green)
3. Napoli (Lehigh) 18-2 (L to Welch, St. John)
4. Fleming (Clarion) 28-2 (L to Welch, Walsh)
5. Alton (PSU) 22-3 (L to Napoli, Fleming, St. John)
6. Green (NEB) 18-3 (L to Ivanov, Bonin, St. John)
DSJ loses to Green, but comes back to get 3rd. Welch knocks off Green in the final. Napoli wins EIWAs. Fleming was injured at the EWLs and had to pull out. Not sure if this is going to be a factor for NCAAs. Alton has a disaster of a Big 10 tournament losing to Demas, St. John and freaking Zilverberg. I think DSJ’s early season win over Napoli keeps him as the #2 seed, but we’ll have to see how the committee treats it. I was pretty nervous when Green looked to be in control of the finals match vs. Welch before Welch got the pin. A win by Green there would have really thrown a wrench in things. As long as DSJ stays away from Green, I like his chances vs. anyone else in this bracket. He absolutely owns Welch (career record of 5-0 vs. Welch). I’m really worried that the committee is going to put Green and DSJ on the same side. Regardless, I think there’s a decent chance Green gets upset before a semis matchup vs. DSJ if it shakes out that way. Anyway, for now I don’t think the committee jumps Green that far and I see it going:
1. Welch
2. St. John
3. Napoli
4. Fleming
5. Green
165
C’mon Nick Moore. He beats Yohn the first 3 times he faces him this year and then loses in the 3rd place match – when he had Yohn taken down and to his back before Yohn somehow rolled him through to get his own winning TD. Brutal. Going into the conference tourneys, Moore was a border line top 12 seed. After Big 10s, he could still get the 12 seed, but not sure it’s going to happen. I’m going to say he goes in unseeded.
174
Out of all the results on Sunday, this one probably stung the most for me. With Storley’s brutal Saturday (losing to the 8 seed Yates and the 4 seed Heflin and wrestling for 7th place), a #2 seed at NCAAs was just sitting there for Evans. All he had to do was knock off Brown, a guy he’d beaten a month before in a nail-biter, but with Evans’s propensity to pull out close victories to all opponents not named Chris Perry or Logan Storley, I felt pretty good about his chances. Evans lost this match because of bad luck – he was going for a shot and just got in a bad position and put to his back. Would have liked to see him do a better job of battling back, but I think he was just stunned. Anyway, pre-conference tournament I think it was:
1. Storley (MN) 22-1 (L to Perry)
2. Perry (Okie St) 30-2 (L to Porter, Storley)
3. Evans (IA) 17-3 (L to Perry, 2 Ls to Storley)
4. Kokesh (NEB) 28-2 (L to Storley, Evans)
5. Brown (PSU) 21-4 (L to Storley, Evans, Kokesh, Heflin)
6. Asper (MD) 17-1 (L to Blanton)
7. Heflin (OSU) 12-3 (L to Storley, Evans, Porter)
Storley had the aforementioned flameout. Perry wins Big 12s. Kokesh loses to Blanton in the Big 10 quarters but then avenges that loss in the 3rd place match. Brown beats Evans to win Big 10s. Asper wins ACCs. Heflin loses to Brown and Blanton at Big 10s. I struggled with this one, but based on past experience, the seeding committee normally places a TON of importance on 2 things: conference tourney results and pretty records. Based on this, I think we see Asper (who btw got screwed last year by the seeding committee who suffered his first loss of the year in the ACC final and was rewarded with the freaking 7 seed) get the 2 seed.
1. Perry
2. Asper
3. Storley
4. Brown
5. Evans
6. Kokesh
184
That was hands down the best Ethen’s looked all year. I’m shocked he dominated Ihnen the way he did in the 3rd place match. He still looks completely outsized for 184 (Ihnen had a good 3-4 inches on him), but hopefully he’s starting to feel more comfortable here – his confidence at least should be sky high. Unfortunately, he’s still not going to get a great seed for the tourney. Pre-conference tourneys:
1. Ruth (PSU) 24-0
2. Bennett (CMU) 23-0
3. Hamlin (Lehigh) 22-2 (L to Ruth, Bennett)
4. Bosak (Cornell) 20-2 (L to Ruth, Hamlin)
5. Steinhaus (MN) 22-1 (L to Bosak)
6. Loder (UNI) 28-3 (L to Larson, 2 Ls to Rutt)
7. Sheptock (MD) 34-3 (L to Ruth, Bennett, Loder)
8. Ihnen (NEB) 21-4 (L to Ruth, Bosak, Steinhaus, Loder)
9. Swartz (BSU) 27-3 (L to Steinhaus, Ihnen, Loder)
10. Rinaldi (Rut) 24-4 (L to Ruth, Hamlin, Sheptock, Ihnen)
11. Chionuma (Okie St.) 22-8 (3 Ls to Steinhaus, L to Bosak, Rutt, Loder, Beard, Larson)
12. Larson (Mizzou) 24-9 (L to Rutt, Bosak, Steinhaus, Ihnen, Ruth, Bennett, Loder, 2Ls to Chionuma)
Ruth beats Steinhaus in the Big 10 final. Bennett wins the MACs over Loder. Hamlin had an injury and defaulted out of EIWAs (which Bosak won). Sheptock wins ACCs. Ihnen loses to Steinhaus and then Lofthouse at Big 10s. Swartz wins Pac12s. Rinaldi loses to Bosak and then some schmo from Brown at EIWAs. Chionuma wins Big 12s. Larson loses to Loder at MACs but comes back to get 3rd. Here’s how I see NCAA seeding shaking out:
1. Ruth
2. Bennett
3. Bosak
4. Hamlin
5. Steinhaus
6. Loder
7. Sheptock
8. Swartz
9. Chionuma
10. Larson
11. Lofthouse
12. Ihnen
197
Really nice tourney for Burak. Good to see him get over the hump against a quality wrestler, knocking off Gonzalez in the quarters. He still can’t figure out Schiller, but it was good to see him stay aggressive throughout a very close match. Nice job, wrestled above his seed. However, the Big 10 is super weak at this weight. He’s going to be unseeded in the tournament.
HWT
After Ethen, Telford was the other Hawkeye who really looked to be firing on all cylinders this weekend. He seems to be getting closer with Nelson, just can’t seem to finish that single once he gets a hold of the leg. I’m glad to see he’s changing his strategy by going neutral when it’s his choice. Pre-conference tourney, I had it:
1. Nelson (MN) 24-1 (L to Bradley)
2. Gelogaev (Okie St.) 22-3 (2 Ls to Nelson, L to Bradley)
3. Bradley (Mizzou) 31-1 (L to Gelogaev)
4. Hanke (Oregon St.) 30-3 (L to Nelson, Bradley, McClure)
5. Telford (IA) 16-5 (2 Ls to Nelson, L to Gelogaev, L to Bradley, L to Capone)
6. McMullan (NW) 16-1 (L to Chalfant)
7. Thomusseit (Pitt) 22-2 (L to Gelogaev, Hanke)
8. McClure (MSU) 27-3 (L to Nelson, Medbery, Gingrich)
9. Trice (CMU) 19-3 (L to Bradley, Hanke, McClure)
Nelson beats McMullan in the Big 10 Final. Gelogaev breezes through the Big 12s. Bradley beats Trice in the MAC Final. Hanke wins Pac12s. Telford loses to Nelson, but comes back to finish 3rd at Big 10s. Thomusseit wins EWLs. McClure flames out at Big 10s, getting dominated by Telford and then getting pinned by Apland in the consi semis. There’s a clear top 3 at this weight. After that, I’m not sure how they’re going to seed it. I’ll go:
1. Nelson
2. Gelogaev
3. Bradley
4. Hanke
5. McMullan
6. Telford
7. Thomusseit
8. Trice
So I’m assuming everyone else is as concerned as I am about McD’s prospects for his 3rd national title (let alone a 4th appearance in the NCAA finals). He really struggled against the 8th seed, Malone, in the quarters match, gutting out a 5-4 win on a riding time point. Then a painful match vs. Delgado in the final. Going into the weekend, I had the seeds as:
1. Waters (Mizzou) 25-0 (W over McDonough, 2 Ws over Garrett)
2. McDonough (Iowa) 17-2 (W over Megaludis, Garrett, Ls to Waters, Delgado)
3. Megaludis (PSU) 20-2 (W over Delgado, Garrett, Ls to McDonough, Zanetta)
4. Garnett (VA Tech) 25-2 (W over Delgado, Ls to Soto, Kraisser)
5. Delgado (Illinois) 18-3 (Ls to Megaludis, Garnett, Cory Clark)
So Delgado knocks off both McDonough and Megaludis. Waters wins the MACs, Garnett wins ACCs (where he avenges his loss to Kraisser). Now, we could see Delgado jump into the #2 seed, but there’s a chance Garnett gets it based on his win over Delgado in the Midlands final. I’ll give Delgado the benefit of the doubt as he just dominated the #2 and #3 ranked wrestlers this weekend. Not sure if they’ll jump Garnett over McD (McD does have a W over Garnett, but it was in the 2011 Midlands final), but I’m guessing they’ll give McD the nod based on his career resume.
1. Waters
2. Delgado
3. McDonough
4. Garnett
5. Megaludis
133
After dominating all season, it was strange to see Tony struggle a bit on Saturday in a 9-5 win over Quiroga and a 3-1 win over Graff. I’m chalking it up to him being so focused on taking down Stieber that he was just doing what he could to get to the final. The Graff matchup had to be a bit of a mental hurdle – Graff knocked Tony off in the 2011 Big 10 semi – if Tony would have won that match, Iowa wins the tourney as they only lost by 1 point to PSU in the conference tournament. It was Stieber and Tony as the #1 and #2 seeds this weekend; it will be the same in DSM.
141
After a disastrous end to the regular season (he came into Big 10s off 3 consecutive losses), it was good to see Ballweg have success this weekend. A very nice win over Dardanes in the semis. Unfortunately, Stieber looked to be on a completely different level in the final. Ballweg had no answer for Stieber’s leg attacks. However, Ballweg did some good things for his NCAA seeding. Pre-Conference tournament, I had it:
1. Maple (OU) 22-0
2. Stieber (Ohio St) 27-0
3. Mangrum (Oregon St) 32-4 (Ls to Stieber, Futrell, Undrakhbayar, Jackson)
4. Port (Edinboro) 28-3 (Ls to Maple, Stieber, Mangrum)
5. Henderson (UNC) 30-6 (2 Ls to Port, L to Cimato, 3 Ls to Carter)
6. Undrakhbayar (Citadel) 34-4 (2 Ls to Henderson, L to Nevinger, Carter)
7. Nevinger (Cornell) 32-9 (L to Maple, Stieber, Graff, Mangrum, Vaith, Hucke,
8. Dardanes (MN) 22-6 (L to Stieber, Mangrum, Nevinger, Ballweg, Feikert, Vaith)
9. Ballweg (IA) 18-4 (L to Stieber, Port, Nevinger, Dardanes)
The top 6 all won their conference tournaments. Nevinger got knocked off in the semis of EIWAs, but came back to finish 3rd. Based on conference results, I don’t see a lot of changes to seeding:
1. Maple
2. Stieber
3. Mangrum
4. Port
5. Henderson
6. Undrakhbayar
7. Nevinger
8. Ballweg
9. Dardanes
149
Dwieza really gave it a go this weekend. Too bad we didn’t have any other serviceable 141 pounders on the roster this year. That would have allowed Dwieza to bump up to 149 for the full season, rather than backup Ballweg and go to 149 for the Big 10s. I think he’ll do just fine next year at 141. I’m trying to stay positive, but I’m worried 149 may be a lot of what we saw this year.
157
While it was disappointing, that semis result wasn’t exactly shocking. DSJ barely knocked off Green in the dual this year – just a bad matchup for him. Good to see DSJ come back to finish 3rd. That win over Alton in the consis was huge. Now as far as seeding for NCAA, I’m really curious to see what the committee does. Pre conference tourneys, I think it would have been:
1. St. John (IA) 22-1 (L to Bradley)
2. Welch (NW) 25-1 (L to Green)
3. Napoli (Lehigh) 18-2 (L to Welch, St. John)
4. Fleming (Clarion) 28-2 (L to Welch, Walsh)
5. Alton (PSU) 22-3 (L to Napoli, Fleming, St. John)
6. Green (NEB) 18-3 (L to Ivanov, Bonin, St. John)
DSJ loses to Green, but comes back to get 3rd. Welch knocks off Green in the final. Napoli wins EIWAs. Fleming was injured at the EWLs and had to pull out. Not sure if this is going to be a factor for NCAAs. Alton has a disaster of a Big 10 tournament losing to Demas, St. John and freaking Zilverberg. I think DSJ’s early season win over Napoli keeps him as the #2 seed, but we’ll have to see how the committee treats it. I was pretty nervous when Green looked to be in control of the finals match vs. Welch before Welch got the pin. A win by Green there would have really thrown a wrench in things. As long as DSJ stays away from Green, I like his chances vs. anyone else in this bracket. He absolutely owns Welch (career record of 5-0 vs. Welch). I’m really worried that the committee is going to put Green and DSJ on the same side. Regardless, I think there’s a decent chance Green gets upset before a semis matchup vs. DSJ if it shakes out that way. Anyway, for now I don’t think the committee jumps Green that far and I see it going:
1. Welch
2. St. John
3. Napoli
4. Fleming
5. Green
165
C’mon Nick Moore. He beats Yohn the first 3 times he faces him this year and then loses in the 3rd place match – when he had Yohn taken down and to his back before Yohn somehow rolled him through to get his own winning TD. Brutal. Going into the conference tourneys, Moore was a border line top 12 seed. After Big 10s, he could still get the 12 seed, but not sure it’s going to happen. I’m going to say he goes in unseeded.
174
Out of all the results on Sunday, this one probably stung the most for me. With Storley’s brutal Saturday (losing to the 8 seed Yates and the 4 seed Heflin and wrestling for 7th place), a #2 seed at NCAAs was just sitting there for Evans. All he had to do was knock off Brown, a guy he’d beaten a month before in a nail-biter, but with Evans’s propensity to pull out close victories to all opponents not named Chris Perry or Logan Storley, I felt pretty good about his chances. Evans lost this match because of bad luck – he was going for a shot and just got in a bad position and put to his back. Would have liked to see him do a better job of battling back, but I think he was just stunned. Anyway, pre-conference tournament I think it was:
1. Storley (MN) 22-1 (L to Perry)
2. Perry (Okie St) 30-2 (L to Porter, Storley)
3. Evans (IA) 17-3 (L to Perry, 2 Ls to Storley)
4. Kokesh (NEB) 28-2 (L to Storley, Evans)
5. Brown (PSU) 21-4 (L to Storley, Evans, Kokesh, Heflin)
6. Asper (MD) 17-1 (L to Blanton)
7. Heflin (OSU) 12-3 (L to Storley, Evans, Porter)
Storley had the aforementioned flameout. Perry wins Big 12s. Kokesh loses to Blanton in the Big 10 quarters but then avenges that loss in the 3rd place match. Brown beats Evans to win Big 10s. Asper wins ACCs. Heflin loses to Brown and Blanton at Big 10s. I struggled with this one, but based on past experience, the seeding committee normally places a TON of importance on 2 things: conference tourney results and pretty records. Based on this, I think we see Asper (who btw got screwed last year by the seeding committee who suffered his first loss of the year in the ACC final and was rewarded with the freaking 7 seed) get the 2 seed.
1. Perry
2. Asper
3. Storley
4. Brown
5. Evans
6. Kokesh
184
That was hands down the best Ethen’s looked all year. I’m shocked he dominated Ihnen the way he did in the 3rd place match. He still looks completely outsized for 184 (Ihnen had a good 3-4 inches on him), but hopefully he’s starting to feel more comfortable here – his confidence at least should be sky high. Unfortunately, he’s still not going to get a great seed for the tourney. Pre-conference tourneys:
1. Ruth (PSU) 24-0
2. Bennett (CMU) 23-0
3. Hamlin (Lehigh) 22-2 (L to Ruth, Bennett)
4. Bosak (Cornell) 20-2 (L to Ruth, Hamlin)
5. Steinhaus (MN) 22-1 (L to Bosak)
6. Loder (UNI) 28-3 (L to Larson, 2 Ls to Rutt)
7. Sheptock (MD) 34-3 (L to Ruth, Bennett, Loder)
8. Ihnen (NEB) 21-4 (L to Ruth, Bosak, Steinhaus, Loder)
9. Swartz (BSU) 27-3 (L to Steinhaus, Ihnen, Loder)
10. Rinaldi (Rut) 24-4 (L to Ruth, Hamlin, Sheptock, Ihnen)
11. Chionuma (Okie St.) 22-8 (3 Ls to Steinhaus, L to Bosak, Rutt, Loder, Beard, Larson)
12. Larson (Mizzou) 24-9 (L to Rutt, Bosak, Steinhaus, Ihnen, Ruth, Bennett, Loder, 2Ls to Chionuma)
Ruth beats Steinhaus in the Big 10 final. Bennett wins the MACs over Loder. Hamlin had an injury and defaulted out of EIWAs (which Bosak won). Sheptock wins ACCs. Ihnen loses to Steinhaus and then Lofthouse at Big 10s. Swartz wins Pac12s. Rinaldi loses to Bosak and then some schmo from Brown at EIWAs. Chionuma wins Big 12s. Larson loses to Loder at MACs but comes back to get 3rd. Here’s how I see NCAA seeding shaking out:
1. Ruth
2. Bennett
3. Bosak
4. Hamlin
5. Steinhaus
6. Loder
7. Sheptock
8. Swartz
9. Chionuma
10. Larson
11. Lofthouse
12. Ihnen
197
Really nice tourney for Burak. Good to see him get over the hump against a quality wrestler, knocking off Gonzalez in the quarters. He still can’t figure out Schiller, but it was good to see him stay aggressive throughout a very close match. Nice job, wrestled above his seed. However, the Big 10 is super weak at this weight. He’s going to be unseeded in the tournament.
HWT
After Ethen, Telford was the other Hawkeye who really looked to be firing on all cylinders this weekend. He seems to be getting closer with Nelson, just can’t seem to finish that single once he gets a hold of the leg. I’m glad to see he’s changing his strategy by going neutral when it’s his choice. Pre-conference tourney, I had it:
1. Nelson (MN) 24-1 (L to Bradley)
2. Gelogaev (Okie St.) 22-3 (2 Ls to Nelson, L to Bradley)
3. Bradley (Mizzou) 31-1 (L to Gelogaev)
4. Hanke (Oregon St.) 30-3 (L to Nelson, Bradley, McClure)
5. Telford (IA) 16-5 (2 Ls to Nelson, L to Gelogaev, L to Bradley, L to Capone)
6. McMullan (NW) 16-1 (L to Chalfant)
7. Thomusseit (Pitt) 22-2 (L to Gelogaev, Hanke)
8. McClure (MSU) 27-3 (L to Nelson, Medbery, Gingrich)
9. Trice (CMU) 19-3 (L to Bradley, Hanke, McClure)
Nelson beats McMullan in the Big 10 Final. Gelogaev breezes through the Big 12s. Bradley beats Trice in the MAC Final. Hanke wins Pac12s. Telford loses to Nelson, but comes back to finish 3rd at Big 10s. Thomusseit wins EWLs. McClure flames out at Big 10s, getting dominated by Telford and then getting pinned by Apland in the consi semis. There’s a clear top 3 at this weight. After that, I’m not sure how they’re going to seed it. I’ll go:
1. Nelson
2. Gelogaev
3. Bradley
4. Hanke
5. McMullan
6. Telford
7. Thomusseit
8. Trice
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