Big College Wrestling Preview

Coming off of a 6th place finish last season, Penn State will put a young but supremely talented roster on the mat, in pursuit of a 5th National Championship in six years.  Our Lions enter 2015/16 as the favorite.  Let's take a look at the team standings, and each of the 10 individual weights.

All rankings courtesy of the great guys at Intermat.

Pre Season National Ranking

Rank	School	Points	Conf
1	Penn State	97.5	Big Ten
2	Oklahoma State	89	Big 12
3	Iowa	75	Big Ten
3	Michigan	75	Big Ten
5	Ohio State	71	Big Ten
6	Cornell	70.5	EIWA
7	Virginia Tech	68	ACC
8	Lehigh	47.5	EIWA
9	North Carolina State	47	ACC
10	North Carolina	46.5	ACC
11	Missouri	42.5	MAC
12	Nebraska	41.5	Big Ten
13	Wisconsin	40	Big Ten
14	Illinois	37	Big Ten
15	Oklahoma	33.5	Big 12
16	Old Dominion	32	MAC
17	Northern Iowa	31.5	MAC
18	Northwestern	26.5	Big Ten
19	Ohio	24.5	MAC
20	Iowa State	24	Big 12
21	Kent State	23.5	MAC
22	West Virginia	22	Big 12
23	Rutgers	21.5	Big Ten
24	Minnesota	20.5	Big Ten
24	Stanford	20.5	Pac-12

See?  I wasn't lying.  Penn State's ranked 1st in the preseason. The usual suspects - Okie State and Iowa - are close behind.  Lehigh and NC State are two pretty good "sleeper" teams, if you're looking for a sleeper to break into the top 5.

Next, let's take a look at the ten individual weight classes.

125 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Nathan Tomasello	Ohio State	Sophomore
2	Nico Megaludis	Penn State	Senior
3	Zeke Moisey	West Virginia	Sophomore
4	Thomas Gilman	Iowa	Junior
5	Conor Youtsey	Michigan	Junior
6	Joey Dance	Virginia Tech	Junior
7	Eddie Klimara	Oklahoma State	Senior
8	David Terao	American	Senior
9	Dylan Peters	Northern Iowa	Junior
10	Darian Cruz	Lehigh	Junior
11	Ronnie Bresser	Oregon State	Sophomore
12	Tim Lambert	Nebraska	Junior
13	Chasen Tolbert	Utah Valley	Senior
14	Dominick Malone	Northwestern	Senior
15	Josh Martinez	Air Force	Senior
16	Nick Herrmann	Virginia	Senior
17	Josh Rodriguez	North Dakota State	Junior
18	Ethan Lizak	Minnesota	Sophomore
19	Paul Petrov	Bucknell	Senior
20	Trey Andrews	Northern Colorado	Junior

Our Guy: Nico's back after taking a redshirt last season.  In three years, he's placed 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd.  He's a tough - mentally and physically - as they come.  He's a pit bull on the mat, makes nary a mistake, and just. won't.  ever. quit.  His gas tank has no bottom.  What else can you say?  He's been our favorite since he stepped on the mat as a true frosh, and we think he earns a much deserved national title this season.

The Field: Ohio State's Tomasello and VaTech's Dance can score from neutral - Tomasello with a left-handed high crotch, and Dance with sweep singles to your right foot.  WVU's Moisey (via Bethlehem Catholic) finished runner-up at NCAAs last season in spite of his un-seeded start, using big moves to score a ton.  With Sammie "the bull" Henson in his corner, Moisey's always a threat.

Not Top 8 Sleeper(s): Darian Cruz (10th - another BeCa prep) won't be 10th for long - he'll be moving up the rankings.  17-Rodriguez will probably pull an upset or two at Midlands.

Predicted Finish: 1-Nico, 2-Tomasello, 3-Dance, 4-Gilman, 5-Klimara

133 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Cody Brewer	Oklahoma	Senior
2	Cory Clark	Iowa	Junior
3	Ryan Taylor	Wisconsin	Junior
4	Nahshon Garrett	Cornell	Senior
5	Johnni DiJulius	Ohio State	Senior
6	Rossi Bruno	Michigan	Senior
7	Mason Beckman	Lehigh	Senior
8	Earl Hall	Iowa State	Senior
9	Jordan Conaway	Penn State	Senior
10	Kevin Devoy	Drexel	Junior
11	George DiCamillo	Virginia	Junior
12	Eric Montoya	Nebraska	Junior
13	Zane Richards	Illinois	Junior
14	Joey Ward	North Carolina	Junior
15	Rob Deutsch	Rider	Senior
16	Mack McGuire	Kent State	Senior
17	Caleb Richardson	Penn	Junior
18	Nathan Kraisser	Campbell	Junior
19	Kevin Norstrem	Virginia Tech	Sophomore
20	Anthony Giraldo	Rutgers	Freshman

Our Guy: Jordan Conaway wrestled 133 as an undersized freshman, finishing one match short of the podium.  He sat behind Nico and Jimmy Gulibon as a sophmore.  Then, he took over 125 last season, and made the podium.  All-American.  (How great is that?)  He'll slot back here at 133 for his last go, and it's a weight that might suit him better, actually, given his particular set of skills.  It's a brutal weight, though.

The Field: Cody Brewer must suck as much weight as anyone in the country.  In his championship final demolition of Iowa's Cory Clark, Brewer looked like a 157lber - except that Brewer was lightning fast.  Cornell's Nahshon Garrett bumps here from 125, and can probably hang with Brewer's speed (but strength might be another matter).  For our money, the aforementioned Clark is as safe of a semi-finalist bet as anyone else, including Brewer.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: Take your pick.  Given the right matchups, most of the top 20 could make a run to the podium.

Predicted Finish: 1-Brewer, 2-Clark, 3-Garrett, 4-Taylor, 5-Beckman

141 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Evan Henderson	North Carolina	Senior
2	Dean Heil	Oklahoma State	Sophomore
3	Jimmy Gulibon	Penn State	Junior
4	Kevin Jack	North Carolina State	Sophomore
5	Chris Mecate	Old Dominion	Senior
6	Anthony Abidin	Nebraska	Senior
7	Anthony Ashnault	Rutgers	Sophomore
8	Rick Durso	Franklin & Marshall	Senior
9	Geordan Martinez	Boise State	Sophomore
10	Dan Neff	Lock Haven	Senior
11	Zach Horan	Central Michigan	Senior
12	Joey McKenna	Stanford	Sophomore
13	Todd Preston	Harvard	Senior
14	Randy Cruz	Lehigh	Junior
15	Danny Sabatello	Purdue	Junior
16	Mark Grey	Cornell	Junior
17	Dante' Rodriguez	Iowa State	Sophomore
18	Jamel Hudson	Hofstra	Junior
19	Jordan Laster	Princeton	Junior
20	Micah Jordan	Ohio State	Freshman

Our Guy: Well here we go.  Jimmy finished 5th last year - down at 133.  Count us among those who think his bump to 141 will be a very positive move for him and the team.  He could match strength with the strongest 33ers, so that shouldn't be a problem.  And now his speed should shine brighter.  Prepare for a bunch of head snap - go behinds.

The Field: this weight's up for grabs.  It was a 3-man field last year (Logan Stieber, Mitchell Port, Devin Carter) - and all three are gone.  The top returning placewinner is Okie State's Heil, who took 4th (a distant 4th, getting mauled by Carter in the consi final).  UNC's Henderson returns from a redshirt, as does F&M's Durso.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: Dan Neff (10th) and Zach Horan (11th) are past AA's (and PA preps), though at different weights.  Call me stupid, but I like Danny Sabatello.

Predicted Finish: 1-Gulibon (WHY NOT), 2-Heil, 3-Ashnault, 4-Durso, 5-Neff

149 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Jason Tsirtsis	Northwestern	Junior
2	Zain Retherford	Penn State	Sophomore
3	Brandon Sorensen	Iowa	Sophomore
4	B.J. Clagon	Rider	Sophomore
5	Alexander Richardson	Old Dominion	Senior
6	Jake Sueflohn	Nebraska	Senior
7	Lavion Mayes	Missouri	Junior
8	C.J. Cobb	Penn	Senior
9	Anthony Collica	Oklahoma State	Junior
10	Tywan Claxton	Ohio	Senior
11	Alec Pantaleo	Michigan	Sophomore
12	Sal Mastriani	Virginia Tech	Junior
13	Colin Heffernan	Central Michigan	Sophomore
14	Kyle Langenderfer	Illinois	Sophomore
15	Gabe Moreno	Iowa State	Junior
16	Michael DePalma	Kent State	Senior
17	Matt Ciamato	Drexel	Junior
18	Christian Pagdilao	Arizona State	Sophomore
19	Chris Perez	Princeton	Senior
20	Christian Barber	North Carolina	Senior

Our Guy: All aboard the Zpain train.  Zain took a redshirt last season, on the heels of his 5th place finish as a true frosh.  Based on his freestyle videos, it appears he's been hanging out in the weight room with Frank Molinaro.  If you only remember him as the 18-year old who beat Logan Stieber, you might not recognize him.  But - sure looks like it's been a productive redshirt.

The Field: It won't be a cakewalk for Zain.  Tsirtsis is a former champ.  Sorensen is much like Tsirtsis, for better and worse.  Clagon is just plain good.  Claxon can score.  Sueflohn is funky.  Lots of challenges.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: VaTech's Mastriani has something to him.  149 might be a better weight for Okie State's Collica.

Predicted Finish: 1-Retherford, 2-Tsirtsis, 3-Sorensen, 4-Clagon, 5-Richardson

157 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Isaiah Martinez	Illinois	Sophomore
2	Ian Miller	Kent State	Senior
3	Nick Brascetta	Virginia Tech	Senior
4	Brian Murphy	Michigan	Junior
5	Mitch Minotti	Lehigh	Junior
6	Cody Pack	South Dakota State	Senior
7	Jason Nolf	Penn State	Freshman
8	Dylan Palacio	Cornell	Junior
9	Lucas Smith	Central Michigan	Senior
10	Thomas Gantt	North Carolina State	Senior
11	Joey Lavallee	Missouri	Junior
12	Chance Marsteller	Oklahoma State	Freshman
13	Doug Welch	Purdue	Senior
14	Spartak Chino	Ohio	Senior
15	Aaron Walker	The Citadel	Junior
16	Dylan Cottrell	West Virginia	Junior
17	John Boyle	American	Senior
18	Russell Parsons	Army West Point	Junior
19	Markus Schieidel	Columbia	Junior
20	Chad Walsh	Rider	Sophomore

Our Guy: Don't go to the restroom, don't look away, don't even blink - you'll miss Jason Nolf scoring more points.  He's going to take shots the entire bout.  He's...he's pretty good.

The Field: Copy paste what I just wrote about Nolf right here, for defending champ Isaiah Martinez.  He, too, is awfully good.  As for the rest - Miller is electric (when healthy).  Brascetta is a horse.  Murphy and Minotti don't score a ton, but they don't let you score either.  Cornell's Palacio drops here from 165lbs - that could be a good move for him.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: NC State's Gantt.  Okie State's Marsteller.

Predicted Finish: 1-Martinez, 2-Miller, 3-Brascetta, 4-Nolf, 5-Marsteller

165 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Alex Dieringer	Oklahoma State	Senior
2	Isaac Jordan	Wisconsin	Junior
3	Ethan Ramos	North Carolina	Sophomore
4	Jim Wilson	Stanford	Junior
5	Cooper Moore	Northern Iowa	Junior
6	Tanner Weatherman	Iowa State	Senior
7	Austin Wilson	Nebraska	Senior
8	Max Rohskopf	North Carolina State	Junior
9	Anthony Perrotti	Rutgers	Senior
10	Duke Pickett	Cornell	Senior
11	Clark Glass	Oklahoma	Junior
12	Seth Thomas	Oregon State	Senior
13	Adam Fierro	CSU Bakersfield	Senior
14	Garrett Hammond	Penn State	Sophomore
15	Conor Brennan	Rider	Senior
16	Johnny Sebastian	Northwestern	Freshman
17	Garrett Sutton	Michigan	Sophomore
18	Steven Rodrigues	Illinois	Senior
19	Austin Trott	Gardner-Webb	Junior
20	Connor McMahon	SIU Edwardsville	Senior

Our Guy:  Garrett had an up-and-down freshman season, like 97% of all freshmen.  He fell achingly short of qualifying for NCAAs, and now he's being pushed in the room by another freshman, Shakur "Corey" Rasheed.  Garrett's #14 rank pre-season is no guarantee that he'll keep the starting spot.  But, no matter who starts, the expectation is that he'll reach the NCAAs and get a couple of wins.

The Field: Alex Dieringer is a horse.  He is become death, the destroyer of worlds.  No one's particularly close to knocking him off.  Ike Jordan is a very good, fundamentally sound wrestler.  His cousin Bo might drop back down to this weight, and give this class a little spice.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: Take your pick.  I'm not sold on numbers 3 - 8, any more than I'm sold by numbers 9 - 20.  If you need just one, then try out Northwestern's Sebastian, a highly touted super frosh who used a redshirt last season.  But be warned - with jNW giving the popular Drew Pariano the boot, their squad could be unsettled.

Predicted Finish: 1-Dieringer, 2-Jordan, 3-I have no idea

174 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Bo Jordan	Ohio State	Sophomore
2	Brian Realbuto	Cornell	Junior
3	Zach Epperly	Virginia Tech	Sophomore
4	Kyle Crutchmer	Oklahoma State	Junior
5	Cody Walters	Ohio	Senior
6	Alex Meyer	Iowa	Junior
7	Blaise Butler	Missouri	Senior
8	Zac Brunson	Illinois	Junior
9	Mike Ottinger	Central Michigan	Senior
10	Ricky Robertson	Wisconsin	Sophomore
11	Davonte Mahomes	Michigan	Sophomore
12	Elliot Riddick	Lehigh	Junior
13	Ben Stroh	Wyoming	Junior
14	Bo Nickal	Penn State	Freshman
15	Nate Jackson	Indiana	Junior
16	John Staudenmayer	North Carolina	Senior
17	Lelund Weatherspoon	Iowa State	Junior
18	Matt Reed	Oklahoma	Junior
19	Jadaen Bernstein	Navy	Sophomore
20	Bryce Hammond	CSU Bakersfield	Senior

Our Guy: Bo Nickal has a lot of skins on his wall from high school.  He came to PSU last year and started adding some college skins to his collection, but an injury cut his season short (at the Scuffle).  I think Bo turns a lot of heads, and climbs up the rankings.

The Field: this weight cleared out a ton of seniors, but into that void came a whole bunch o' dudes.  Bo Jordan (165), Brian Realbuto (157), and Elliott Riddick (197!!) all can wrestle very well.  Bo, as noted in the 165 preview, may not stay at this weight, depending upon Ohio State's team needs.  But if he does, he's probably the favorite.  That notwithstanding, this will be a wild weight class.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: Numbers 10 - 15 are all pretty decent sleeper picks, in our opinion.

Predicted Finish: ????? Put Epperly on the podium.  But other than that, ????

184 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Gabe Dean	Cornell	Junior
2	Vic Avery	Edinboro	Senior
3	Blake Stauffer	Arizona State	Senior
4	Nathaniel Brown	Lehigh	Senior
5	Kenny Courts	Ohio State	Senior
6	Hayden Zillmer	North Dakota State	Senior
7	Jack Dechow	Old Dominion	Junior
8	Willie Miklus	Missouri	Sophomore
9	T.J. Dudley	Nebraska	Junior
10	Lorenzo Thomas	Penn	Senior
11	Sammy Brooks	Iowa	Junior
12	Dominic Abounader	Michigan	Junior
13	Matt McCutcheon	Penn State	Sophomore
14	Nikko Reyes	Northern Colorado	Junior
15	Nolan Boyd	Oklahoma State	Junior
16	Brett Harner	Princeton	Junior
17	Pete Renda	North Carolina State	Junior
18	Mathew Miller	Navy	Senior
19	Jeff Koepke	Illinois	Junior
20	Andrew Romanchik	Ohio	Senior

Our Guy: Matt "Mighty Mouse" McCutcheon came as close to the podium as you can get without quite making it.  It was an awfully good freshman campaign, and included wins over four wrestlers currently ahead of him in the pre-season (#'s 11, 9, 8 and 3).  Mouse seems like the type who'll take that experience and build on it.

The Field: the field is brutal, with 10 past All-Americans peppering it.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: start at 9, and go thru 18.  Being a homer, I'll take Mouse. Iowa's Brooks seems like a pretty good bet, too.

Predicted Finish: 1-Dean, 2-Brown, 3-Dechow, 4-Avery, 5-Brooks

197 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Morgan McIntosh	Penn State	Senior
2	J'den Cox	Missouri	Junior
3	Conner Hartmann	Duke	Senior
4	Nathan Burak	Iowa	Senior
5	Max Huntley	Michigan	Senior
6	Abram Ayala	Princeton	Senior
7	Brett Pfarr	Minnesota	Junior
8	Phil Wellington	Ohio	Senior
9	Jake Smith	West Virginia	Junior
10	Aaron Studebaker	Nebraska	Junior
11	Zach Nye	Virginia	Senior
12	Cody Crawford	Oregon State	Sophomore
13	Anthony Abro	Eastern Michigan	Senior
14	Scott Boykin	Chattanooga	Junior
15	Mark Martin	Ohio State	Senior
16	Nathan Rotert	South Dakota State	Sophomore
17	Jared Haught	Virginia Tech	Sophomore
18	John Bolich	Lehigh	Senior
19	Bryce Barnes	Army West Point	Senior
20	Trent Noon	Northern Colorado	Senior

Our Guy: Morg finished 3rd last season.  This is his year, in our opinion.  When Morg stays aggressive, no one is beating him.

The Field: J'Den Cox won it all two years ago, and has a brutal ride.  Duke's Hartmann knocked Morg out of the champions bracket last season.  Iowa's Burak has gotten better every year.  After that, things thin out.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: there are some good names in the list, but we're taking VaTech's Jared Haught, from way down at #17.

Predicted Finish: 1-Morg, 2-Cox, 3-Hartmann, 4-Burak, 5-Open for business

285 LBS

Rank	Wrestler	School	Year
1	Nick Gwiazdowski	North Carolina State	Senior
2	Ty Walz	Virginia Tech	Junior
3	Adam Coon	Michigan	Junior
4	Blaize Cabell	Northern Iowa	Senior
5	Austin Marsden	Oklahoma State	Senior
6	Michael Kroells	Minnesota	Junior
7	Amarveer Dhesi	Oregon State	Sophomore
8	Billy Smith	Rutgers	Senior
9	Ross Larson	Oklahoma	Junior
10	Riley Shaw	Cleveland State	Senior
11	Joe Stolfi	Bucknell	Senior
12	Denzel Dejournette	Appalachian State	Junior
13	Nathan Butler	Stanford	Sophomore
14	Doug Vollaro	Lehigh	Junior
15	Collin Jensen	Nebraska	Junior
16	Brooks Black	Illinois	Sophomore
17	Nick Tavanello	Ohio State	Junior
18	Ryan Solomon	Pitt	Sophomore
19	Tanner Harms	Wyoming	Senior
20	Jared Johnson	Chattanooga	Junior

Our Guy: sad news, friends.  We all thought we'd see super-frosh Nick Nevills here, ranked somewhere between 6th and 12th.  Unfortunately, word from the room is that Nick suffered a season-ending injury.  Cael asked James Franklin if he could borrow true frosh walk-on linebacker Jan Johnson, a 2x PIAA champ.  James consented.  According to Jan, he quickly remembered that there's a big difference between "football shape" and "wrestling shape".  It's gonna be a tough hill to climb.

The Field: Nick "Gwiz" is better than everyone else.  Also of note, he tries offensive moves (and scores points with them).  His championship victory over Tony Nelson two years ago clinched Penn State's sixth national title.  So, there's reason to cheer for him, too.

Not Top 8 Sleepers: sticking in the Big Ten, I wouldn't be surprised to see one of 15-Black or 16-Tavanello on the podium.  Outside the conference, I like 12-Dejournette.  He can wrestle.

Predicted Finish: 1-Gwiz, 2-Coon, 3-Walz, 4-Marsden, 5-Kroells