Note: All rankings are based on 2/23 Coach's rankings.
125
I feel fine about McDonough. It was important for him to finally see one of the top 2 wrestlers in his weight class before NCAAs. He more than held his own against a 3-time (soon to be 4-time) AA. And continued to look fresh at the end. Escobedo, on the other hand looked exhausted. McD's pace is just relentless and this could really be a factor in a (potential) NCAA matchup against Nickerson in the Semis. I’m feeling pretty positive about a potential rematch. Nickerson (the current #2 ranked guy) blazed through the EIWA championships to wrap up his season with a 13-1 record (only loss was an inj. default to Escobedo at the Southern Scuffle). Nickerson (defending champ and also a 3-time AA) will be the #2 seed at NCAAs.
Predicted NCAA Seed: #3
133
I was pretty happy with Dennis' performance at Big 10s. I honestly did not see him knocking off Gomez for the 3rd consecutive time (5th if you count freestyle). This just seems to be Ness' year and he's seemed to have finally figured Dennis out. Just like in the dual matchup, Dennis could never get to his offense against him (save for a late TD once Ness had the match wrapped up). Going into the conference tournaments, the rankings were 1. Ness, 2. Dennis, 3. Gomez, 4. Oliver. Oliver (who won in the IA-Okie State dual on a last second TD in Dennis' first match back from his sprained ankle) won Big 12s to end the season with a 28-2 record (losses to #1 Ness and #11 Novachkov). I'm really interested to see how they end up seeding this weight at NCAAs. I'll say the seeding committee takes this into account when evaluating each wrestler's resume and Dennis keeps the 2 seed and Oliver gets the 3, but I could easily see it go the other way. Oliver (a RS freshman) has really improved throughout the year and is showing why he was a top-5 recruit.
Predicted NCAA Seed: #2
141
After Saturday night I was pretty frustrated with Marion. To go out and get majored by a guy you had majored just 3 weeks before? Ridiculous. But after seeing Thorn knock off Humphrey in the finals, maybe this wasn't such a shock. It was definitely Thorn's weekend. Glad to see Marion come back and get 3rd, but he really needs to improve his consistency. He was losing in the consi semis (against Schmitt, the 8th seed) and came back to win on a 5 point move late in the 3rd. That was a nice win to get 3rd against a funky wrestler in Archuleta. Especially good to see him go for the TD with 20 seconds left when he already had locked up the win. Now the seeds. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Dake (Cornell): 26-2 (W over #2 Humphrey, #3 Bailey, #4 Jones, #8 Thorn; L to #2 Humphrey, #3 Bailey)
2. Humphrey (Ohio State): 27-2 (W over #1 Dake, #3 Bailey, #6 Marion, #8 Thorn; L to #1 Dake, #12 Drouin)
3. Bailey (Oklahoma): 23-5 (W over #1 Dake, #4 Jones, #7 Parks; L to #2 Humphrey, #5 Novachkov, #7 Parks, #12 Drouin)
4. Jones (Boise State): 16-5 (W over #5 Novachkov; L to #1 Dake, #3 Bailey, #5 Novachkov, #6 Marion)
5. Novachkov (Cal Poly): 21-5 (W over #4 Jones, #7 Parks)
6. Marion (Iowa): 19-4 (W over #4 Jones, #7 Parks, #8 Thorn; L to #2 Humphrey, #8 Thorn, #16 Prater, #28 Lynch)
7. Parks (Okie State): 26-5 (W over #3 Bailey, 8 Thorn; L to #3 Bailey, #6 Marion)
8. Thorn (Minnesota): 21-5 (W over #6 Marion, #16 Prater; L to #6 Marion, #7 Parks, #21 Archuleta)
Okay, results of the conference championships have really done a number on this weight. #1 Dake won his conference championship. #2 Humphrey loses to #8 Thorn in Big 10s. #3 4 Jones went 1-3 at Pac-10s, so he's dropping WAAAAY down (I still don't understand how he was ranked 4th in the first place). #5 Novachkov lost in the Pac 10 Finals to #29 Duenas, so I'd imagine he drops. Marion loses to #8 Thorn who beat #2 Humphrey. #7 Parks beat #3 Bailey in the Big 12s and #8 Thorn beat #6 Marion and #2 Humphrey to win Big 10s. Seeding is going to be crazy at NCAAs. I'm predicting the following:
1. Dake
2. Humphrey
3. Thorn
4. Parks
5. Bailey
6. Marion
7. Novachkov
8. Krom
149
Wow. Just wow. I'm sure I speak for everyone in that I NEVER saw that coming. IMO a couple things played a part in this upset. Metcalf was ridden HARD (I don't remember somebody riding Metcalf like that since his Sophomore year) and that TD in the 1st period took FOREVER. The locked hands call in the 3rd period also really hurt. Metcalf has some of the best natural instincts and it's very rare to see him make a mistake like that. Now he's got to get the TD to win the match at the end. A position he's definitely not used to being in. Despite all this, I still feel fine about a rematch at NCAAs. Maybe it's black-and-gold glasses, but Metcalf's taken it to him too many times and yesterday made some uncharacteristic mistakes that caused him to lose the match. To be honest, I wouldn't be completely shocked to see Palmer lose before a finals rematch. He's talented, but nowhere near as consistent as Metcalf. Not sure how they're going to seed these 2. Metcalf should get the 1 seed (Palmer lost to both Metcalf and Ruschell during the regular season), but he may get the 2. Doesn't really matter one way or the other.
Predicted NCAA seed: 2
157
Once Schlatter defaulted, Jake seemed like a pretty good lock to qualify for NCAAs. Good win over Nemec in the quarters. Despite taking Salazar to SV in the Purdon't dual, he sounded outclassed against him in the semis. It was nice to see him get the win over Johnson in the consi semis to go to the 3rd place match. This Jones character had an unbelievable Big 10s. Beats the 3 seed (and 10th ranked) Kinser twice and knocks off Kerr in SV to place 3rd. Kerr is going to be unseeded at NCAAs. I'm hoping he wins 2 matches in Omaha. Anything else from him would be gravy.
Predicted NCAA seed: Unseeded
165
You've got to feel for Morningstar. Sounds like there's some doubts as to whether he'll be able to go. Even if he can, you've got to think he's going to be severely limited. I didn't expect Sponseller to knock him off in the semis. Ryan had owned him prior to that match. This is where his style bites him - can lose to anyone and beat anyone (except Howe). For seeding purposes, I'm assuming Morningstar is going to wrestle in Omaha. Going into the weekend, the rankings were as follows:
1. Howe (Wisconsin): 28-0 (W over #2 Reader, #4 Morningstar, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller)
2. Reader (Iowa State): 21-3 (W over #4 Morningstar, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller; L to #1 Howe, #4 Morningstar, Schlatter)
3. King (Edinboro): 31-1 (W over #6 Sponseller, #7 Vallimont; L to #11 Schmelyun)
4. Morningstar (Iowa): 23-4 (W over #2 Reader, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller, #7 Vallimont; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #8 Meade)
5. Marable (Mizzou): 31-3 (W over #8 Meade, #10 Rendos; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #4 Morningstar)
6. Sponseller (Ohio State): 24-4 (W over #7 Vallimont, #9 Onufer; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #3 King, #4 Morningstar)
7. Vallimont (Penn State): 24-6 (W over #8 Meade, #12 Young; L to #4 Morningstar, #6 Sponseller)
8. Meade (Oklahoma State): 27-6 (W over Schlatter, #4 Morningstar, #9 Onufer; L to #7 Vallimont, #22 Jones, UR Cuthbertson)
Conference Tournament Results: #1 Howe beats #6 Sponseller to win Big 10s, #2 Reader loses in Big 12 Finals to #5 Marable, #3 King wins EWL, #4 Morningstar loses to #6 Sponseller and #7 Vallimont (INJ Default), #8 Meade loses to #5 Marable and #17 Caldwell. My seeding predictions, again assuming Morningstar is a go in Omaha:
1. Howe
2. King
3. Marable
4. Reader
5. Sponseller
6. Morningstar
7. Vallimont
8. Onufer
174
After watching McDonough, Dennis and Metcalf lose, it was nice to be able to sit back, relax and watch Borschel dominate. He had a surprisingly close quarters match, but was never in danger. Then he dominated in the semis against #12 Blanton (who had a good tournament himself, knocking off #5 Manuel and finishing 3rd). The current top-ranked guy at 174, Lewnes of Cornell won his conference championship, having a close win of his own over #18 Hamlin in the semis. Lewnes and Borschel are both undefeated and have dominated all comers this year (Lewnes 36-0 with 14 pins, 3 TFs, and 7 MDs; Borschel 32-0 with 10 pins and 10 MDs). I see Lewnes getting the 1 seed and Borschel getting the 2. Assuming no upsets, this should be an awesome Finals.
Predicted NCAA Seed: 2
184
Good showing by Phil this weekend. Nice to see him avenge his loss to #10 Erwin. I'm worried he doesn't have the offense to beat #2 Dergo in an inevitable rematch at NCAAs. Keddy seems to be rounding into form (and looks to finally be healthy), so hopefully these next 10 days can help him going into NCAAs. Seeding this weight is going to be difficult. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Smith (Boise State): 22-0 (W over #2 Dergo, #7 LeBlanc, #9 Keddy)
2. Dergo (Illinois): 28-2 (W over #3 Askren, #5 Cannon, #8 Caputo; L to #1 Smith, #3 Askren)
3. Askren (Mizzou): 14-1 (W over #2 Dergo, #6 Foster, #9 Keddy; L to #2 Dergo)
4. Kilgore (Kent State): 30-1 (W over #7 LeBlanc, #11 Pucillo; L to Honeycutt (who was 26-1 before being injured and out for the season))
5. Cannon (American): 22-1 (W over #9 Keddy; L to #2 Dergo)
6. Foster (Oklahoma St.): 17-3 (W over #7 LeBlanc, #12 Ward; L to #2 Askren, #9 Keddy, #10 Erwin)
7. LeBlanc (Wyoming): 32-4 (W over #10 Erwin, #11 Pucillo; L to #1 Smith, #4 Kilgore, #6 Foster, #18 Purdue)
8. Caputo (Harvard): 19-2 (W over #12 Ward, #14 Craig, #15 Bosak; L to #2 Dergo, #9 Keddy)
9. Keddy (Iowa): 21-6 (W over #6 Foster, #8 Caputo, #11 Pucillo; L to #1 Smith, #3 Askren, #5 Cannon, #10 Erwin, #12 Ward)
First things first. How the he!! is Caputo ranked over Keddy? That's ridiculous. Keddy has a freaking head-to-head win over the guy. Caputo has ZERO top 10 wins, whereas Keddy has 2 of them. Just angers me.
Okay, conference results: #1 Smith wins Pac 10s, #2 Dergo beats #9 Keddy to win Big 10s, #3 Askren loses to #6 Foster in the Big 12s, #4 Kilgore wins the MAC, #5 Cannon beats #8 Caputo to win EIWA, #7 LeBlanc beats a bunch of no names to win the Western Regional.
This was pretty tough. I'm assuming the committee corrects the mistakes of the rankings and puts Phil ahead of Caputo - but it doesn't really matter as the 8/9 seeds are essentially the same. I actually like Phil's chances against Smith rather than Dergo (he's 2-1 against Smith in college, losing in the TB at NCAA duals). Here's my seeding prediction:
1. Smith
2. Dergo
3. Kilgore
4. Foster
5. Cannon
6. Askren
7. LeBlanc
8. Keddy
9. Caputo
197
No idea what they're going to do with Beatty at NCAAs seeding-wise. You have to tip your cap to him for his performance against Yohn in the semis. IMO, Yohn is one of the most underrated guys on the national scene and Keddy was SOOO close to pulling out the victory. Not surprised at all to see him MED forfeit his remaining matches once the Big 10 title was no longer an option. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Varner (Iowa St.): 25-0
2. Brester (Nebraska): 25-1 (L to #1 Varner)
3. Taylor (Maryland): 36-2 (W over #4 Simaz; L to #1 Varner, #7 Brandvold)
4. Beatty (Iowa): 13-2 (W over #7 Brandvold, #10 Bond, #16 Kennedy; L to #1 Varner (twice))
5. Simaz (Cornell): 33-5 (W over #7 Brandvold, #12 Haynes; L to #8 Biondo, #16 Kennedy)
6. Lapotsky (Oklahoma): 22-5 (W over #8 Biondo, #9 Gelogaev, #12 Haynes; L to #1 Varner, #2 Brester, #16 Kennedy, 19 Jones)
7. Brandvold (Wisconsin): 17-3 (W over #3 Taylor, #8 Biondo, #10 Bond; L to #4 Beatty, #5 Simaz, #16 Kennedy)
8. Biondo (Michigan): 29-5 (W over #5 Simaz, #11 Yohn; L to #6 Lapotsky, #15 Brown, #20 Schuth, UR Lofthouse)
In conference tournaments results were: #1 Varner over #2 Brester, #3 Taylor wins ACC, #4 Beatty loses to #11 Yohn, #5 Simaz wins EIWA, #6 Lapotsky gets 3rd at Big 12s, #7 Brandvold beats #11 Yohn to win Big 10s, #8 Biondo gets 3rd at Big 10s.
Again, no idea what they're going to do with Beatty. Here's my seed predictions:
1. Varner
2. Brester
3. Taylor
4. Simaz
5. Lapotsky
6. Beatty
7. Brandvold
8. Biondo
It's all going to depend on how much weight they put on Beatty's early season victory over Brandvold. Prior to Big 10s, that obviously played a huge factor in his ranking. I could see Beatty drop as low as 8/9, but I'll stick with the prediction of the 6 seed.
HWT
Huge win by Erekson yesterday. Good to see him confirm what we all knew - he's going to play a big factor at NCAAs. It would have been nice to see him keep up the tempo in the 3rd, but after his 5 point move, he really played it safe and was MUCH more passive than what we're used to seeing from him. I'm really intrigued by how this weekend's results are going to impact seedings. Going into this weekend, here were the rankings:
1. Rosholt (Oklahoma St.) 29-1 (W over #4 Zabriskie, #5 Ellis, #6 Rey; L to #13 Fernandez)
2. Everhart (Indiana): 32-0 (W over #10 Steele, #12 Monteiro)
3. Trice (CMU): 22-0 (W over #4 Zabriskie)
4. Zabriskie (Iowa St.): 19-2 (W over #5 Ellis, #6 Rey; L to #1 Rosholt, #3 Trice)
5. Ellis (Mizzou): 18-8 (W over #9 Russo; L to #1 Rosholt, #4 Zabriskie, #11 Tomei, teammate Dom Bradley (1-2 record against him in 2010))
6. Rey (Lehigh): 25-4 (W over #9 Russo, 11 Tomei; L to #1 Rosholt, #5 Zabriskie, #10 Steele)
7. Dudziak (Duke): 12-0 (W over....#25 Barlow)
8. Erekson (Iowa): 8-0 (W over #14 Wade, #21 Berhow)
A couple things. CLEARLY, Ellis' high ranking is solely due to his NCAA championship winning performance in the 2009 NCAAs. Give me a break. No reason he should be ranked 5th. Dudziak is lucky he's even wrestling. Was suspended for much of the season after being arrested for DWI and possession of a deadly weapon on school grounds (had a big knife in the car). Conference championships helped sort some of this out:
#1 Rosholt lost to #4 Zabriskie in the Big 12s, #2 Everhart lost to #8 Erekson at Big 10s, #3 Trice lost to #25 Barlow at the MACs, #5 Ellis lost TWICE at Big 12s - once to #4 Zabriskie and once to #13 Fernandez, #6 Rey won EIWAs, #7 Dudziak won ACCs.
Here's how I think the seeding goes at NCAAs:
1. Zabriskie
2. Dudziak
3. Rosholt
4. Erekson
5. Trice
6. Everhart
7. Rey
8. Russo
I could see potentially see Everhart and Trice swap places, though that would be questionable. They both have one loss (granted, Trice's was to a much lower ranked wrestler), but Trice's win over Zabriskie is much better than anything Everhart did.
125
I feel fine about McDonough. It was important for him to finally see one of the top 2 wrestlers in his weight class before NCAAs. He more than held his own against a 3-time (soon to be 4-time) AA. And continued to look fresh at the end. Escobedo, on the other hand looked exhausted. McD's pace is just relentless and this could really be a factor in a (potential) NCAA matchup against Nickerson in the Semis. I’m feeling pretty positive about a potential rematch. Nickerson (the current #2 ranked guy) blazed through the EIWA championships to wrap up his season with a 13-1 record (only loss was an inj. default to Escobedo at the Southern Scuffle). Nickerson (defending champ and also a 3-time AA) will be the #2 seed at NCAAs.
Predicted NCAA Seed: #3
133
I was pretty happy with Dennis' performance at Big 10s. I honestly did not see him knocking off Gomez for the 3rd consecutive time (5th if you count freestyle). This just seems to be Ness' year and he's seemed to have finally figured Dennis out. Just like in the dual matchup, Dennis could never get to his offense against him (save for a late TD once Ness had the match wrapped up). Going into the conference tournaments, the rankings were 1. Ness, 2. Dennis, 3. Gomez, 4. Oliver. Oliver (who won in the IA-Okie State dual on a last second TD in Dennis' first match back from his sprained ankle) won Big 12s to end the season with a 28-2 record (losses to #1 Ness and #11 Novachkov). I'm really interested to see how they end up seeding this weight at NCAAs. I'll say the seeding committee takes this into account when evaluating each wrestler's resume and Dennis keeps the 2 seed and Oliver gets the 3, but I could easily see it go the other way. Oliver (a RS freshman) has really improved throughout the year and is showing why he was a top-5 recruit.
Predicted NCAA Seed: #2
141
After Saturday night I was pretty frustrated with Marion. To go out and get majored by a guy you had majored just 3 weeks before? Ridiculous. But after seeing Thorn knock off Humphrey in the finals, maybe this wasn't such a shock. It was definitely Thorn's weekend. Glad to see Marion come back and get 3rd, but he really needs to improve his consistency. He was losing in the consi semis (against Schmitt, the 8th seed) and came back to win on a 5 point move late in the 3rd. That was a nice win to get 3rd against a funky wrestler in Archuleta. Especially good to see him go for the TD with 20 seconds left when he already had locked up the win. Now the seeds. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Dake (Cornell): 26-2 (W over #2 Humphrey, #3 Bailey, #4 Jones, #8 Thorn; L to #2 Humphrey, #3 Bailey)
2. Humphrey (Ohio State): 27-2 (W over #1 Dake, #3 Bailey, #6 Marion, #8 Thorn; L to #1 Dake, #12 Drouin)
3. Bailey (Oklahoma): 23-5 (W over #1 Dake, #4 Jones, #7 Parks; L to #2 Humphrey, #5 Novachkov, #7 Parks, #12 Drouin)
4. Jones (Boise State): 16-5 (W over #5 Novachkov; L to #1 Dake, #3 Bailey, #5 Novachkov, #6 Marion)
5. Novachkov (Cal Poly): 21-5 (W over #4 Jones, #7 Parks)
6. Marion (Iowa): 19-4 (W over #4 Jones, #7 Parks, #8 Thorn; L to #2 Humphrey, #8 Thorn, #16 Prater, #28 Lynch)
7. Parks (Okie State): 26-5 (W over #3 Bailey, 8 Thorn; L to #3 Bailey, #6 Marion)
8. Thorn (Minnesota): 21-5 (W over #6 Marion, #16 Prater; L to #6 Marion, #7 Parks, #21 Archuleta)
Okay, results of the conference championships have really done a number on this weight. #1 Dake won his conference championship. #2 Humphrey loses to #8 Thorn in Big 10s. #3 4 Jones went 1-3 at Pac-10s, so he's dropping WAAAAY down (I still don't understand how he was ranked 4th in the first place). #5 Novachkov lost in the Pac 10 Finals to #29 Duenas, so I'd imagine he drops. Marion loses to #8 Thorn who beat #2 Humphrey. #7 Parks beat #3 Bailey in the Big 12s and #8 Thorn beat #6 Marion and #2 Humphrey to win Big 10s. Seeding is going to be crazy at NCAAs. I'm predicting the following:
1. Dake
2. Humphrey
3. Thorn
4. Parks
5. Bailey
6. Marion
7. Novachkov
8. Krom
149
Wow. Just wow. I'm sure I speak for everyone in that I NEVER saw that coming. IMO a couple things played a part in this upset. Metcalf was ridden HARD (I don't remember somebody riding Metcalf like that since his Sophomore year) and that TD in the 1st period took FOREVER. The locked hands call in the 3rd period also really hurt. Metcalf has some of the best natural instincts and it's very rare to see him make a mistake like that. Now he's got to get the TD to win the match at the end. A position he's definitely not used to being in. Despite all this, I still feel fine about a rematch at NCAAs. Maybe it's black-and-gold glasses, but Metcalf's taken it to him too many times and yesterday made some uncharacteristic mistakes that caused him to lose the match. To be honest, I wouldn't be completely shocked to see Palmer lose before a finals rematch. He's talented, but nowhere near as consistent as Metcalf. Not sure how they're going to seed these 2. Metcalf should get the 1 seed (Palmer lost to both Metcalf and Ruschell during the regular season), but he may get the 2. Doesn't really matter one way or the other.
Predicted NCAA seed: 2
157
Once Schlatter defaulted, Jake seemed like a pretty good lock to qualify for NCAAs. Good win over Nemec in the quarters. Despite taking Salazar to SV in the Purdon't dual, he sounded outclassed against him in the semis. It was nice to see him get the win over Johnson in the consi semis to go to the 3rd place match. This Jones character had an unbelievable Big 10s. Beats the 3 seed (and 10th ranked) Kinser twice and knocks off Kerr in SV to place 3rd. Kerr is going to be unseeded at NCAAs. I'm hoping he wins 2 matches in Omaha. Anything else from him would be gravy.
Predicted NCAA seed: Unseeded
165
You've got to feel for Morningstar. Sounds like there's some doubts as to whether he'll be able to go. Even if he can, you've got to think he's going to be severely limited. I didn't expect Sponseller to knock him off in the semis. Ryan had owned him prior to that match. This is where his style bites him - can lose to anyone and beat anyone (except Howe). For seeding purposes, I'm assuming Morningstar is going to wrestle in Omaha. Going into the weekend, the rankings were as follows:
1. Howe (Wisconsin): 28-0 (W over #2 Reader, #4 Morningstar, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller)
2. Reader (Iowa State): 21-3 (W over #4 Morningstar, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller; L to #1 Howe, #4 Morningstar, Schlatter)
3. King (Edinboro): 31-1 (W over #6 Sponseller, #7 Vallimont; L to #11 Schmelyun)
4. Morningstar (Iowa): 23-4 (W over #2 Reader, #5 Marable, #6 Sponseller, #7 Vallimont; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #8 Meade)
5. Marable (Mizzou): 31-3 (W over #8 Meade, #10 Rendos; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #4 Morningstar)
6. Sponseller (Ohio State): 24-4 (W over #7 Vallimont, #9 Onufer; L to #1 Howe, #2 Reader, #3 King, #4 Morningstar)
7. Vallimont (Penn State): 24-6 (W over #8 Meade, #12 Young; L to #4 Morningstar, #6 Sponseller)
8. Meade (Oklahoma State): 27-6 (W over Schlatter, #4 Morningstar, #9 Onufer; L to #7 Vallimont, #22 Jones, UR Cuthbertson)
Conference Tournament Results: #1 Howe beats #6 Sponseller to win Big 10s, #2 Reader loses in Big 12 Finals to #5 Marable, #3 King wins EWL, #4 Morningstar loses to #6 Sponseller and #7 Vallimont (INJ Default), #8 Meade loses to #5 Marable and #17 Caldwell. My seeding predictions, again assuming Morningstar is a go in Omaha:
1. Howe
2. King
3. Marable
4. Reader
5. Sponseller
6. Morningstar
7. Vallimont
8. Onufer
174
After watching McDonough, Dennis and Metcalf lose, it was nice to be able to sit back, relax and watch Borschel dominate. He had a surprisingly close quarters match, but was never in danger. Then he dominated in the semis against #12 Blanton (who had a good tournament himself, knocking off #5 Manuel and finishing 3rd). The current top-ranked guy at 174, Lewnes of Cornell won his conference championship, having a close win of his own over #18 Hamlin in the semis. Lewnes and Borschel are both undefeated and have dominated all comers this year (Lewnes 36-0 with 14 pins, 3 TFs, and 7 MDs; Borschel 32-0 with 10 pins and 10 MDs). I see Lewnes getting the 1 seed and Borschel getting the 2. Assuming no upsets, this should be an awesome Finals.
Predicted NCAA Seed: 2
184
Good showing by Phil this weekend. Nice to see him avenge his loss to #10 Erwin. I'm worried he doesn't have the offense to beat #2 Dergo in an inevitable rematch at NCAAs. Keddy seems to be rounding into form (and looks to finally be healthy), so hopefully these next 10 days can help him going into NCAAs. Seeding this weight is going to be difficult. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Smith (Boise State): 22-0 (W over #2 Dergo, #7 LeBlanc, #9 Keddy)
2. Dergo (Illinois): 28-2 (W over #3 Askren, #5 Cannon, #8 Caputo; L to #1 Smith, #3 Askren)
3. Askren (Mizzou): 14-1 (W over #2 Dergo, #6 Foster, #9 Keddy; L to #2 Dergo)
4. Kilgore (Kent State): 30-1 (W over #7 LeBlanc, #11 Pucillo; L to Honeycutt (who was 26-1 before being injured and out for the season))
5. Cannon (American): 22-1 (W over #9 Keddy; L to #2 Dergo)
6. Foster (Oklahoma St.): 17-3 (W over #7 LeBlanc, #12 Ward; L to #2 Askren, #9 Keddy, #10 Erwin)
7. LeBlanc (Wyoming): 32-4 (W over #10 Erwin, #11 Pucillo; L to #1 Smith, #4 Kilgore, #6 Foster, #18 Purdue)
8. Caputo (Harvard): 19-2 (W over #12 Ward, #14 Craig, #15 Bosak; L to #2 Dergo, #9 Keddy)
9. Keddy (Iowa): 21-6 (W over #6 Foster, #8 Caputo, #11 Pucillo; L to #1 Smith, #3 Askren, #5 Cannon, #10 Erwin, #12 Ward)
First things first. How the he!! is Caputo ranked over Keddy? That's ridiculous. Keddy has a freaking head-to-head win over the guy. Caputo has ZERO top 10 wins, whereas Keddy has 2 of them. Just angers me.
Okay, conference results: #1 Smith wins Pac 10s, #2 Dergo beats #9 Keddy to win Big 10s, #3 Askren loses to #6 Foster in the Big 12s, #4 Kilgore wins the MAC, #5 Cannon beats #8 Caputo to win EIWA, #7 LeBlanc beats a bunch of no names to win the Western Regional.
This was pretty tough. I'm assuming the committee corrects the mistakes of the rankings and puts Phil ahead of Caputo - but it doesn't really matter as the 8/9 seeds are essentially the same. I actually like Phil's chances against Smith rather than Dergo (he's 2-1 against Smith in college, losing in the TB at NCAA duals). Here's my seeding prediction:
1. Smith
2. Dergo
3. Kilgore
4. Foster
5. Cannon
6. Askren
7. LeBlanc
8. Keddy
9. Caputo
197
No idea what they're going to do with Beatty at NCAAs seeding-wise. You have to tip your cap to him for his performance against Yohn in the semis. IMO, Yohn is one of the most underrated guys on the national scene and Keddy was SOOO close to pulling out the victory. Not surprised at all to see him MED forfeit his remaining matches once the Big 10 title was no longer an option. Going into conference championships, here were the rankings:
1. Varner (Iowa St.): 25-0
2. Brester (Nebraska): 25-1 (L to #1 Varner)
3. Taylor (Maryland): 36-2 (W over #4 Simaz; L to #1 Varner, #7 Brandvold)
4. Beatty (Iowa): 13-2 (W over #7 Brandvold, #10 Bond, #16 Kennedy; L to #1 Varner (twice))
5. Simaz (Cornell): 33-5 (W over #7 Brandvold, #12 Haynes; L to #8 Biondo, #16 Kennedy)
6. Lapotsky (Oklahoma): 22-5 (W over #8 Biondo, #9 Gelogaev, #12 Haynes; L to #1 Varner, #2 Brester, #16 Kennedy, 19 Jones)
7. Brandvold (Wisconsin): 17-3 (W over #3 Taylor, #8 Biondo, #10 Bond; L to #4 Beatty, #5 Simaz, #16 Kennedy)
8. Biondo (Michigan): 29-5 (W over #5 Simaz, #11 Yohn; L to #6 Lapotsky, #15 Brown, #20 Schuth, UR Lofthouse)
In conference tournaments results were: #1 Varner over #2 Brester, #3 Taylor wins ACC, #4 Beatty loses to #11 Yohn, #5 Simaz wins EIWA, #6 Lapotsky gets 3rd at Big 12s, #7 Brandvold beats #11 Yohn to win Big 10s, #8 Biondo gets 3rd at Big 10s.
Again, no idea what they're going to do with Beatty. Here's my seed predictions:
1. Varner
2. Brester
3. Taylor
4. Simaz
5. Lapotsky
6. Beatty
7. Brandvold
8. Biondo
It's all going to depend on how much weight they put on Beatty's early season victory over Brandvold. Prior to Big 10s, that obviously played a huge factor in his ranking. I could see Beatty drop as low as 8/9, but I'll stick with the prediction of the 6 seed.
HWT
Huge win by Erekson yesterday. Good to see him confirm what we all knew - he's going to play a big factor at NCAAs. It would have been nice to see him keep up the tempo in the 3rd, but after his 5 point move, he really played it safe and was MUCH more passive than what we're used to seeing from him. I'm really intrigued by how this weekend's results are going to impact seedings. Going into this weekend, here were the rankings:
1. Rosholt (Oklahoma St.) 29-1 (W over #4 Zabriskie, #5 Ellis, #6 Rey; L to #13 Fernandez)
2. Everhart (Indiana): 32-0 (W over #10 Steele, #12 Monteiro)
3. Trice (CMU): 22-0 (W over #4 Zabriskie)
4. Zabriskie (Iowa St.): 19-2 (W over #5 Ellis, #6 Rey; L to #1 Rosholt, #3 Trice)
5. Ellis (Mizzou): 18-8 (W over #9 Russo; L to #1 Rosholt, #4 Zabriskie, #11 Tomei, teammate Dom Bradley (1-2 record against him in 2010))
6. Rey (Lehigh): 25-4 (W over #9 Russo, 11 Tomei; L to #1 Rosholt, #5 Zabriskie, #10 Steele)
7. Dudziak (Duke): 12-0 (W over....#25 Barlow)
8. Erekson (Iowa): 8-0 (W over #14 Wade, #21 Berhow)
A couple things. CLEARLY, Ellis' high ranking is solely due to his NCAA championship winning performance in the 2009 NCAAs. Give me a break. No reason he should be ranked 5th. Dudziak is lucky he's even wrestling. Was suspended for much of the season after being arrested for DWI and possession of a deadly weapon on school grounds (had a big knife in the car). Conference championships helped sort some of this out:
#1 Rosholt lost to #4 Zabriskie in the Big 12s, #2 Everhart lost to #8 Erekson at Big 10s, #3 Trice lost to #25 Barlow at the MACs, #5 Ellis lost TWICE at Big 12s - once to #4 Zabriskie and once to #13 Fernandez, #6 Rey won EIWAs, #7 Dudziak won ACCs.
Here's how I think the seeding goes at NCAAs:
1. Zabriskie
2. Dudziak
3. Rosholt
4. Erekson
5. Trice
6. Everhart
7. Rey
8. Russo
I could see potentially see Everhart and Trice swap places, though that would be questionable. They both have one loss (granted, Trice's was to a much lower ranked wrestler), but Trice's win over Zabriskie is much better than anything Everhart did.
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