2021 Midlands Preview 157 lbs

                               

I just do not see Northwestern's Ryan Deakin getting beat.  I don't only mean here at the Midlands, I mean period. The rest of the season, BIG 10's, NCAA's, you name it.  I think when it is all said and done, the above picture is reflective to how all of Deakin's matches this season will end.  Him getting his hand raised. For all picks for champs, this is where I feel the most comfortable. 

As we approach the half way point of the 2021-2022 season, one of the biggest puzzles of the year has been Hawkeye Kaleb Young.  10 matches into the year, he's currently 6-4. That's one more loss than he had all of last season & only one loss away from having as many losses as he did in the 2019-2020 season.  Something is obviously wrong and Robert Stack has it listed as an Unsolved Mystery.  What I do know is that Young is an extremely talented wrestler. It's not like that talent just leaves you.  It doesn't just get up and take off one day never to be seen again. It's not gone. It's simply lying dormant for some reason & something needs to be done to channel it back to life.  We're talking about a FOUR time Midlands place-winner going for his FIFTH Midlands medal. A TWO time finalist going for his THIRD finals appearance. A champion going for his SECOND title.  Let's not lose sight of what he has accomplished and what he IS capable of, just because he's struggled so far this season.  The Midlands is the testing point. Let's seem him actually take the test BEFORE we grade it.  As far as I'm concerned, the only guy in this bracket that I don't think he can beat is Deakin. Even though he owns two victories over the Wildcat, I just cannot see that happening. I'd be saying this even if Young were currently undefeated. 

Quincy Monday of Princeton and Kendall Coleman of Purdue give us two more wrestlers that could potentially makes the finals. Monday defeated Young earlier this season & Coleman has given Young a scare in the past in 4-3 loss. Again, don't see either of these guys defeating Deakin, but can see either one in the finals against him. 

Who will be our other place-winners?  Well, it doesn't escape my memory that at the last Midlands, Army's Markus Hartman came out of nowhere to make the finals. While I don't see him making the finals again, I'll say this. If he was capable of taking runner-up honors then, than he is capable of placing within the top 8 now. Will Lewan of Michigan, especially considering that the Wolverines want to make a statement against the Hawkeyes here, is another one I see on the award stand. 

Others I can see making a run for a Midlands medal? 

Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan
Both A.J. Jaffe & Trevor Tarsi of Harvard
#18 Andrew Cerniglia of Navy
#27 Jordan Slivka of Ohio
#20 Doug Zapf of Pennsylvania
#31 Elijah Cleary of Pittsburgh
#32 Robert Kanniard of Rutgers
Jake Keating of Virginia
Garrett Model of Wisconsin 

#1 in NAIA Giovanny Bonilla 
Grand View 

Any small school wrestlers gonna make a name for themselves here at the Midlands?  Tough bracket, but if anyone can it is Grand View's Giovanny Bonilla.