One of the things that I've always appreciated about the PAC-12 in years past is that it was usually based on PAC-12 results. Meaning that seeding reflected head to head competition Vs PAC-12 opponents more so than it did national rankings. I personally feel that even if someone is ranked above you in the rankings, if you beat them, that should reflect your seeding at the conference championships. So keep that in mind as you read what I have to say.
Blue will indicate allocations and pink will indicate plausible steals
125 lbs
1. Bresser
2. Millhof
3. Townsell
The PAC-12 finals at 125 lbs will be a familiar clash between Oregon State's Ronnie Bresser and Arizona State's Ryan Millhof. Bresser leads the series three matches to one, but most of their matches have been close and being the final time they'll probably meet in their careers, it ought to be good.
133 lbs
1. Nickell
2. Pengilly
3. Kline
4. Funakoshi
I don't know who in the Hell I'm trying to kid by putting down Kline and Funakoshi as plausible steals, but I suppose I do so for a few different reasons. First and foremost, it's the PAC-12. If you go back and look through PAC-12 brackets over the past 20 years, you'll notice that it's a tournament synonymous with upsets. Secondly, Funakoshi kept it close with Pengilly when they wrestled back on the seventeenth of February. While I'm pretty sure that Nickell and Pengilly will be our two qualifiers at 133 lbs out of the PAC-12, I wouldn't put it past Kline or Funakoshi to steal his spot.
141 lbs
The earned allocation which I'm almost positive will be the PAC-12 champion is Grant Willits of Oregon State.
149 lbs
1. Van Der Merwe
2. Maruca
3. Rohlfing
This is an interesting weight class for a variety of different reasons. Josh Maruca the 2017 PAC-12 champion had to sit the tournament out last season due to being the backup for Jason Tsirtsis. No question about it, he is hungry to obtain his second PAC-12 crown. In his way will be Requir Van Der Merwe of Stanford, who defeated the sun devil earlier this season 4-1. It's not often we have foreign wrestlers in collegiate wrestling anymore. To my knowledge Van Der Merwe is the first South African wrestling division one since Shaun Williams of Oregon who graduated in 2002 and Heinrich Barnes of Oregon State who graduated in 2009.
Lastly we have Russell Rohlfing a two time NCAA qualifier, who has a history of inconsistency and unpredictability. He's lost some real head scratchers this season but he's also one the only losses Pat Lugo of Iowa has suffered. He's the type of guy you may majored the last time you wrestled, but one who will take you into overtime the next.
157 lbs
1. Fox
2. Pagdilao
3. Willits
It's quite the story for Arizona State's Christian Pagdilao. He won a PAC-12 title in 2015 as a true freshman and he hasn't been back to the PAC-12 tournament since. For him to win his second title as a redshirt senior would really make the story come full circle. He'll have to get past Stanford's Paul Fox, the most "tournament wrestler" there is this season. While Fox doesn't always have the most impressive of results during the season, he always wrestles well at the NCAA's. He's finished third the past two PAC-12 championships. Then before we move on to 165 lbs, there is also Hunter Willits of Oregon State, who upset Fox in route to a runner-up finish last season.
165 lbs
1. Shields
2. Mandarino
Josh Shields looks to win his third consecutive PAC-12 title this season. Only thing possibly standing in his way could be Stanford's Dom Mandarino.
174 lbs
I don't know if it gets anymore shoe-in of a sure thing than Valencia winning the PAC-12 title at 174 lbs. This will be nothing more than a little extra conditioning before the NCAA's.
184 lbs
1. Norfleet
2. Ducharme
I'm almost positive based on the small number of matches that Norfleet has wrestled this season and the fact that in eight wins the only one that sticks out is a 6:15 fall over Ethan Smith, that Ducharme is the one that earned an allocation here. Yet with that said, Norfleet is the returning PAC-12 champion and he's defeated Ducharme every time he's stepped on the mat with him. I find it hard to believe that the PAC-12 would seed Ducharme ahead of Norfleet.
197 lbs
1. Traxler
2. Lane
Pretty simple here at 197 lbs. Two allocations and these are the two that will get them.
HWT
1. Dhesi
2. Maley
Two time PAC-12 champion Amar Dhesi will defend his title against relative new comer Hadyn Maley of Stanford.
OREGON STATE
The glory years of Jim Zalesky's Oregon State Beavers seem to be behind him as of late. Nevertheless he should send at least three, if not four to the NCAA tournament and two of those wrestlers should win individual PAC-12 titles.
ARIZONA STATE
The Sun Devils look to win the PAC-12 team title as a result of bonus points, although Stanford could plausibly have more NCAA qualifiers. The Sun Devils will send at least six, maybe seven.
STANFORD
You'd think with the amount of talent that Coach Borelli continues to produce at Stanford that maybe he might start to get a little recognition and credit for it. I guess not. Look for seven wrestlers to take a little break from the farm to spend a half a week in Pittsburgh.
CAL STATE BAKERSFIELD
Only confident in one qualifier for the Roadrunners this tournament, although I can see as many as three.
CAL POLY
While I'd love to see Funakoshi turn it on and have the tournament of his life, that's most likely not going to happen. Looks like Tom Lane will probably be the only Mustang going to the NCAA's this year.
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