Thursday, March 15, 2018

2018 NCAA Tournament Most Interesting Second Round Matches

125

#9 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) Vs #8 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) 

On paper this looks like a cakewalk victory for Bresser.  After all he made a man out of whom the Hawkeye faithful originally thought was a God, in a 2-1 victory over Spencer Lee.  The same Spencer Lee who scored a technical fall over Lizak later in the year.  Yet this is wrestling,and it happens off paper and on a mat for a

#13 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia) Vs #4 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) 

Years ago Cornell's Nahshon Garrett was on a short list of names that was going to win the NCAA title that season until he ran into West Virginia's Zeke Moisey and all plans were thrown out the window. This year Suriano is one of four names most mentioned to take the NCAA title this year at 125 lbs.  Could Moisey repeat history and knock another name off as he did a few years back?  I'd certainly give it plausibility.

#7 Taylor Lamont (Utah Valley) Vs #10 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern)

Commonalities all over the place.  Both freshman.  Both made the wrestling world well aware of who they were earlier on in the season. Both have thus been set aside for more interesting things.  Both have the opportunity to be Quarter-finalist.

133 

U.S. Rico Montoya (Northern Colorado) Vs U.S. Tariq Wilson (North Carolina State)
Somebody going to the Quarter-finals unseeded.  That's worth mentioning.

#11 Dom Forys (Pittsburgh) Vs #6 Scotty Parker (Lehigh) 
Forys defeated Parker earlier this season 7-6. Look for this to be one of the most interesting and fun matches of round two.

#7 Austin DeSanto (Drexel) Vs #10 Jack Mueller (Virginia)
How can you not look forward to this one?  Mueller was the first to show us that DeSanto's offense could be shut down when he defeated him twice at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas invitational 4-0 and 7-0.  It seemed that Mueller had DeSanto's number, but then the two met again at the Scuffle.  And up until an injury caused DeSanto to default he was winning.  It'll be interesting to see what happens in Cleveland later today.

141 

U.S. Sa'Deria Perry (Eastern Michigan) vs U.S. Ryan Diehl (Maryland) 

Both are coming off of huge first round upsets and both are eager to be among the handful of unseeded headed into the Quarterfinals. 

#5 Kevin Jack (North Carolina State) Vs #12 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
I said it earlier in a blog and now I'm saying it again  Tyler Smith is one of the most unheralded wrestlers of the year who has always been "right there" yet never quite done that one thing.  A win over Jack here would most certainly be that one thing and considering he just knocked off Brent Moore of Virginia 7-0, who recently beat Jack 6-4 sudden victory at the ACC's, that is a possibility.

#6 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) Vs #11 Mike Carr (Illinois) 
As much as I'm pulling for Heil to make like a Harry and totally redeem himself at this tournament, silencing all critics I can't help but worry.  And the worry starts here in the second round with Carr.  Carr is dangerous and he'll make Heil work for every point he gets. Any finger nails I have left, will be gone before the end of this match.

149
#7 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) Vs #10 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) 
I'll be moving onto my toenails at this point, as I'll have no fingernails left to chew on.  Much like Heil, little would please me more than to see Tsirtsis have the tournament of his life.  Yet, he barely survived a first round 2-1 tiebreaker. Deakin won't let him get away with that. He's going to have to be offensive and he's going to have to score.  If he doesn't, Deakin will win this match. 

157 
#6 Mike Kemerer (Iowa) Vs U.S. Paul Fox (Stanford)
Kememer better not be looking ahead.  You overlook Paul Fox, especially at this tournament, and you'll regret it.  Kemerer is one of the best 157 lbs wrestlers in the country. I don't have to tell anyone that, but so is Fox. He may wait until the last minute to prove it year in and year out, but he is.  Kemerer better be ready.

#7 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) Vs #10 Markus Scheidel (Columbia) 
In the battle for the team title with Penn State, every win counts but this match could favor the Nittany Lions as a different kind of Lion will be giving Jordan all he can handle.  I've been on the Scheidel bandwagon three weeks before football season even ended. Still am and am excited for this match.


Kennedy Monday of North Carolina sure is having one Hell of a tournament.  Pretty such that goes into the Quarterfinals.  From there, don't know.

165 
#7 Logan Massa (Michigan) Vs #10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin)
Nothing sweeter than revenge and no better place to get it than the NCAA tournament.  It was at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational when Wick handed Massa an 8-4 loss, after losing earlier to him at the Michigan State open 11-3.  It seemed that maybe the reason for the loss was due to not being 100%, but after upsetting Iowa's Marinelli, Massa again lost to Wick, this time 4-3 at the BIG 10 championships.  Massa who at the beginning of the year was seen as a title threat, was quickly moved off of that lists after his loss to Wick. A win here would spell redemption.

174

#8 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy) Vs # 9 Keaton Subjeck (Stanford) 
The two best seniors in the weight class yet to AA and they're up against one another in the second round. While it's not a shoe-in, it is believable that whoever wins here will eventually work his way onto the award stand and whoever loses will be among the list of best to never


#7 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) Vs Ethan Ramos (North Carolina) 
Ramos finished in sixth place as a freshman at the NCAA championships and has yet to make it back to the award stand. He's been wrestling as good as he's ever been wrestling, but Lujan will not be easy to over come. 

184 
#8 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) Vs #9 Max Dean (Cornell)
These two have split matches this year, with Dean winning 9-7 and Foster winning 9-5. Both seem to have a chip on their shoulder, out to prove something.  Dean, the younger brother of four time All American, three time finalist Gabe and Foster, trying to cement himself as the Panther's all time greatest at 184 lbs. 

197
#13 Jeric Kasunic (American) Vs #4 Mike Macchiavello (North Carolina State)
I find this match to be most intriguing because here you have two seniors who no one gave the slightest thought to at the beginning of the season.  Now here they are, duking it out to be in tomorrow's Quarter-finals.  I would like to think that there has to be some coach out there that is having his going to be a senior next year wrestler looking at this match. Proving that prerequisites don't mean jack  in wrestling and last year ain't got squat on the year and now.



And there you have it. The matches I look forward to most!


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