Early nationals predictions

CRlightweight

Well-Known Member
So it’s been a little dead on here so I thought I’d start a discussion. Here are my early picks for NCAA finalist and champs.

125 Megaludis over Garrett. I know Garrett has beaten Megaludis a couple times this year. But I just love the way NM wrestles. He’s such an attacker. I think he finally gets it done on the big stage.

133 Ramos over Colon. Tony took some early losses and for whatever reason I just don’t feel he has been as dominating as in the past even though he’s scored a lot of bonus points. But at the end of the day I still think he gets it done. Colon is so dangerous and wrestling well, but I could also see him getting beat before the finals by someone solid like Morrison too.

141 Steiber over Port. I think Steiber will be Retherford this time around. Maybe twice unless seedings get switched around by nationals. Port will probably stay on the other side regardless.

149 Sueflon over Houdashedt. Little bit of an upset here. I like Sueflon a lot. I think he wins big 10s then beats Houdashedt who has wrestled really solid all year. maple just doesn’t seem to have it at 149

157 DSJ over Ness. Ness is wrestling out of his mind right now. He’s as dangerous as there is. Fun to watch wrestle and always steps up in big competitions. But I always have confidence DSJ will get the job done and think he can stay in sound enough position against Ness. I hate the match up with Green so I’m praying he doesn’t wrestle him in the finals. That guy always scares me w/ DSJ.

165 Taylor over Sulzer. I’d love to pick Moore here, but I don’t see how he ends up on the bottom side of the bracket. A loss for him at Big 10s wouldn’t be such a bad thing if he got bumped down to #6 or #7 seed.

174 Howe over Kokesh. This one is hard to pick. Howe will make the finals and I felt really confident it was going to be Brown, but he’s lost his last two. Perry is just such a gamer he always seems to win the close ones. And storly is rock solid. But I just feel like Kokesh has raised his level this year and I think he finds a way to make the finals. Big 10 tourney is going to be huge for seedings at this weight.

184 Ruth over Sheptock. Seedings will probably have Ruth and Dean on the same side. Which would probably put Lofthouse and Loder on the top with Sheptock. Not a bad place to be…

197 Cox over McIntosh. Cox has really impressed me this season. He’s a freak for a true freshman. I think he will beat Gadson at big 12 and get #1 seed. McIntosh has wrestled really well lately too but has been beaten by Cox twice.

HWT McMullan over Coon. This is a tough weight to pick. Hard to pick against Nelson but he can’t seem to ride guys like in the past. Coon has wrestled great all year. McMullan hasn’t wrestled very many matches this year for whatever reason, but I think he has the best offense of all the HWTs so I’m going with him.

From an Iowa perspective, if Moore and Lofthouse get on the right side of the bracket (opposite PSU) and we wrestle well, we could make it a very interesting tournament. We could have a lot of potential finalist. Thoughts?
 
Thanks for posting CR. You're right, it's been really dead around here. Hopefully it picks up in the next couple of weeks here.

It's hard to argue with your picks, but something crazy always happens...hopefully in Iowa's favor. I'd love to see Ramos get another shot at Colon. If so, I like Ramos. Like you said, I hope DSJ doesn't get matched up against Green again...not a good matchup for him (or anyone else really). Best hope is that Ness gets him and finds a way to out-funk him. Other than those two, I think Telford has a chance at making the finals as long as he keeps improving like he has the past month....even though that bracket is an absolute crap shoot.

Again, thanks for posting!
 
Below are my NCAA picks based on results so far this season. (sure they'll change after Big Tourney)

I think the Hawks and Gophers both have a chance to beat PSU at Nationals but they'll both have to be at their best to pull the upset. Believe the Hawks will have anywhere from 5-7 AAs and that Minny will have 7-8 AAs.
Hawks could potentially have 8 AA's but it is dependent on how healthy Lofthouse is and also who gets the nod at 125 between Gilman and Clark.

125: Garrett
133: Colon
141: Steiber
149: Sueflon
157: DSJ
165: Taylor
174: Howe
184: Ruth
197: McIntosh
Hwt: McMullan
 
Using Intermat as "seeds"

125- Delgado over Garrett: Non Iowa Dark Horse- Dylan Peters
133- Colon over Ramos: NIDH- Tyler Graff
141- Steiber over Port: NIDH- Zain Retherford
149- Houdashout over Villalonga: NIDH- Jake Sueflohn
157- DSJ over Ness: NIDH- Dylan Alton
165- Taylor over Monk: NIDH- why bother
174- Howe over Perry: NIDH- Matt Brown
184- Ruth over EL: NIDH- Gabe Dean
197- Cox over Heflin: NIDH-Kyven Gadsen
HWT- Telford over Nelson: NIDH- Adam Coon
 
To keep the momentum going on this board I'll throw out my predictions as well...

125 - Garrett over Megaludis - Clark 3rd
133 - Ramos over Morrison
141 - Steiber over Port - Dziewa round of 12
149 - Houdashelt over Villalonga - Grothus 7th
157 - DSJ over Ness
165 - Taylor over Sulzer - Moore 3rd
174 - Howe over Perry - Evans 6th
184 - Ruth over Loder - Lofthouse 4th
197 - Schiller over Cox - Burak 8th
Hwt - Nelson over Telford

These WILL change once the brackets are released :)
 
125 Megaludis over Garrett. I know Garrett has beaten Megaludis a couple times this year. But I just love the way NM wrestles. He’s such an attacker. I think he finally gets it done on the big stage.

149 Sueflon over Houdashedt. Little bit of an upset here. I like Sueflon a lot. I think he wins big 10s then beats Houdashedt who has wrestled really solid all year. maple just doesn’t seem to have it at 149


174 Howe over Kokesh. This one is hard to pick. Howe will make the finals and I felt really confident it was going to be Brown, but he’s lost his last two. Perry is just such a gamer he always seems to win the close ones. And storly is rock solid. But I just feel like Kokesh has raised his level this year and I think he finds a way to make the finals. Big 10 tourney is going to be huge for seedings at this weight.

HWT McMullan over Coon. This is a tough weight to pick. Hard to pick against Nelson but he can’t seem to ride guys like in the past. Coon has wrestled great all year. McMullan hasn’t wrestled very many matches this year for whatever reason, but I think he has the best offense of all the HWTs so I’m going with him.

Interesting you have four returning champions in the weights above, not only lose, but not make the finals. Most years these picks are crazy, this year these picks seem about right. This years tournament will be decided on the backside more than ever. There's going to be a lot of returning national champions wrestling all day Saturday.
 
125 Clark
133 Ramos
141 Retherford
149 Houdashelt
157 DSJ
165 Taylor
174 Howe
184 Ruth
197 Schiller
HWT Nelson
my picks there top guys who have been to the big show cept Zain. man that kid is tough. Clark should surprise a lot of folks.
go hawks
 
Last edited:
One thing is for sure it has been a crazy season and I don't expect nationals to be any different. Big names will fall and a no name will become a house hold name. The weights I am looking forward to the most are 25,33,57,and hwt. As we know, based on this season each one of these weights feature a hawkeye that has the potential to stand on top of the podium as well trip and be wrestling for 3rd or worse depending on mind set. The only wrestler that I would give a pass to the finals as well as the top of the podium is Taylor. The guy is in a class all himself (good thing Dake graduated or he would be playing 2nd fiddle again).
 

Latest posts

Top