NWCA National Duals Preview

The National Duals hits Iowa City this weekend.  The quarterfinals and semi-finals will be wrestled on Saturday, February 21st.  The championship final starts Sunday, the 22nd.  Let's preview the matchups.

How To Watch

Quarterfinals - Saturday, February 21st,  1pm ET.  Video?  TBD.  Possibly BTN Plus, but it is not currently listed.

Semifinals - Saturday, February 21st,  4pm ET.  Video: Big Ten Network.  That's regular TV, folks.

Finals -  Sunday, February 22nd, 12:30pm ET.  Video: Big Ten Network.

The Full Bracket

Quarterfinal Matchups

Summary: not to spoil your fun, but this figures to be a comfortable win for the tournament host Hawkeyes.  They're favored at 10 of 10 weights.  So, yeah.  Not a lot to see here.  Let's move on.

Summary: this should be a good one.  Minnesota is the favorite, 6 bouts to 4.  But, the Gophers are likely to cough up some bonus points at 125.  And that means one slip up, one bad move that results in a 5-pointer for Cornell, and the Gophers are on the ropes.

Summary: Nick Tavanello is supposed to return to the mat for the Buckeyes at 285 this weekend.  They might need him to get past the Engineers.  If Lehigh can pull out wins at toss up weights 133 and 157, plus an upset at 197, this could come down to the shaved bears.

Summary: this figures to be another close match.  The Illini could rack up some bonus at 133, 157, and 165 to compensate for their on-paper underdog status.  But they have a decent shot of an upset at 174, 184, and 285, as well.