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YIANNI DIAKOMIHALIS
Junior
CORNELL |
With Missouri's Jaydin Eierman redshirting, unless he gets hurt Diakomihalis will cakewalk through through the season. A decision here and there scattered among majors, techs and pins. Hodge candidate for sure.
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NICK LEE
Junior
PENN STATE |
The real fight in 141 lbs is the battle for second. Among those in the war is the Nittany Lion's Nick Lee who won last year's Southern Scuffle, took third at the BIG 10's and fifth at the NCAA's. Proven susceptible to upsets, his chances of making the finals are good but not great.
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DOM DEMAS
Sophomore
OKLAHOMA |
A BIG 12 title and a fourth place finish at the NCAA's it seems on paper that Diakomihalis' most likely finals opponent would be Demas. However nine losses suggest that is far from a given.
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MITCH MOORE
Sophomore
VIRGINIA TECH |
I don't see Moore contending for a spot in the NCAA finals this season, but I do think he has a lgit shot at winning the ACC title. He'll have to contend with North Carolina's A.C. Headlee who he split with last season in two close matches. Will also contend for All American honors.
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TARIQ WILSON
Junior
NORTH CAROLINA STATE |
After a miracle run talking a third place finish at the NCAA's as a freshman, Wilson finished one match shy of All American status last year as a sophomore. This year as a junior, he moves up to 141 lbs and I for one am anxious to see how eight pounds of muscle effects him. Such a quick and limber wrestler, he often relied on his speed at 133 lbs. Will he be as fast at 141?
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TRISTAN MORAN
Senior
WISCONSIN |
Tristan "Box of Chocolates" Moran. You never know what you're gonna get. In some instances you can almost picture him with the upset semi-finals win, making his way into the NCAA finals. In others, you can see him having to rely on a wildcard just to make it to the tournament. We're talking about a guy that pinned Mitch Mckee of Minnesota and handed Lee a 12-10 sudden victory loss. Yet we're also talking about a guy that was majored against a .500 Joey Gould of Bucknell and pinned by Army's Corey Shie. His season will be full of upsetting and being upset.
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KYLE SHOOP
Senior
LOCK HAVEN |
When it comes to top wrestling, rides and turns it's hard to think of a current program that exemplifies it more than Scott Moore's Lock Haven Eagles. Kyle Shoop is an absolute punisher on top and used his skills to win an EWL title and seventh place All American honors last season. The key to beating Shoop is to either be Diakomihalis and be able to get out anyway, or to keep the match on the feet as much as possible. Demas was 3-0 vs Shoop last year and he beat him by staying neutral. You do NOT want to go down against this guy.
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KAID BROCK
Senior
OKLAHOMA STATE |
After two successful seasons at 133 lbs that involved two fifth place finishes at the NCAA's and a Southern Scuffle title, Brock failed to place at both tournaments last year after moving up to 141 lbs. The adjustment took some time to get used to but there were signs by year's end that he was doing just that. Earlier in the season he lost to Iowa State's Ian Parker 6-3, but then came back and majored him 12-4 at the NCAA's. At this point Brock is a darkhorse NCAA finalist, but come March he might very well be the #2 seed.
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MITCH MCKEE
Senior
MINNESOTA |
After two heartbreaking losses in the bloodround, Mckee finally won his bloodround match to secure his first All American honor last season. In a group of fifteen wrestlers that seem to interchange with one another week to week in the rankings based on parity, it'll be a fight to secure a second one.
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REAL WOODS
Freshman
STANFORD |
Stanford has yet to crown a four time All American and you may be looking at the first wrestler to achieve that feat in Real Woods. Going 22-1 last season as a redshirt, Woods defeated three time NCAA qualifier Nic Gil of Navy & gave Nick Lee all he could handle in the finals of the Southern Scuffle tournament. The Cardinal have also, never had a four time PAC-12 champion. Woods might also be the first in school history to do that.
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GRANT LEETH
Junior
MISSOURI |
I think Leeth may have had a job babysitting me during the summers when I was a kid. All jokes aside the sixth year junior entered his freshman year of college in 2014 and will finish his final year of eligibility in 2021. An All American in 2018 at 149 lbs, Leeth looks to try his luck at 141 this season. If he can stay healthy, he may be the biggest surprise of the year.
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SAM TURNER
Junior
WYOMING |
Turner showed glimpses throughout his sophomore season that he could make a run for All American status this year. A Reno champion, he upset Brock in the finals. A better BIG 12 tournament which will in turn get him a better seed at nationals is key to Turner's success.
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CHAD RED JR
Junior
NEBRASKA |
Chad "Tournament Time" Red. Despite 14 losses last year, Red seems to always find himself wrestling well in the post season. Upset his way to a runner-up finish at the BIG 10's and secured himself a second All American honor despite only being seeded #16. A dangerous wrestler who will put you on your back when you're not paying attention, Red's usually the monkey wrench in the rankings.
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JOSH HEIL
Junior
CAMPBELL |
After a successful season at 149 lbs last season that saw a sixth place finish at the CKLV invitational, Heil moves down to 141 lbs for his junior year. He should soon enough cement himself as the likely Southern Conference champion, a contender for All American honors.
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SA'DERIAN PERRY
Senior
OLD DOMINION |
The fight for NCAA runner-up honors is real and another top contender will be Old Dominion's Sa'Derian Perry. Despite getting upset at the MAC's & not having a good NCAA's last season, it is wise to look beyond two bad tournaments & into his potential. He defeated Demas 4-3 & similar wins we will see this season.
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COLE MATTHEWS
Freshman
PITTSBURGH |
Another tough freshman entering the jungle that is 141 lbs, is Pittsburgh's Cole Matthews that went 21-4 as a redshirt last season. Highlights included a seventh place finish at CKLV, a 4-2 victory over 2018 EWL champ Evan Cheek of Cleveland State, pinning Ohio's Cam Kelly & a 2-0 victory over D.J. Fehlman of Lock Haven.
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A.C. HEADLEE
Senior
NORTH CAROLINA |
A solid wrestler who has managed 20+ win seasons, Headlee should have his best season yet. I think the weight class is too stacked for a serious run at All American, but Headlee should contend for a medal at CKLV & an ACC title.
That is of course, if he's even varsity. Zach Sherman is also contending for the starting spot at 141 lbs for the tarheels. If he were going 133 lbs, I'd feel more confident in him. The way he wrestled at last year's Midlands taking third place, he seemed capable of about anything. Yet he wasn't a huge 133 lbs'er and I don't feel he's big enough for 141. I like my crow served well done though, and I will eat it if proved wrong.
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MAX MURIN
Sophomore
IOWA |
According to the Hawkeye faithful, Gavin Teasdale will be the man at 133 lbs & Austin DeSanto will be moving up to 141. I have a lot to say about that. First off, if that is the case, I don't know how good that'll be for DeSanto. His greatest struggle is on bottom & he's going to have a harder time escaping from 141 lbs'ers than he was from 133 lbs'ers. Secondly, a lot can change between July and November. Years ago I remember being told that Chad Beatty was in and Eric Leudke was out. That Beatty was way better than Leudke and was beating him up in the room. Yet the season started, the season ended and Leudke was third at the NCAA's. Beatty was a name never mentioned again. Lastly despite who starts, whats true about Iowa at 141 lbs, is you have a room full of five guys who are all in the least NCAA qualifiers. Murin, DeSanto, Vince Turk, Carter Happel and Josh Renteria.
For now I'll concentrate on Murin. His second place showing at the Midlands indicates what he's capable of as does his round of twelve finish at last year's NCAA's. Most of his losses are very close, within one or two points. He has the same problem Ryan Morningstar did years ago. He's so afraid of losing and receiving harsh criticism that he's afraid to open up and take risks. He has the talent and he has the ability, he simply needs to let loose.
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MIKE CARR
Junior
ILLINOIS |
I have nicknames for everyone at 141, and I like to refer to Mike Carr as "The Weather man." You predict sunshine, it rains. You predict rain, it shines. And that is the perfect analogy of what it's like to watch Carr wrestle. He could win two BIG 10 titles & two All American honors over the next two years. He could also just barely qualify. With him it's always a game of craps.
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JOEY SILVA
Freshman
MICHIGAN |
He only wrestled eight matches as a redshirt last season and they were at 133 lbs, but he had enough quality wins in order for me to determine that he'll be yet another tough freshman added to the mix. Notable victories include Paul Konrath, Derek Spann, Lane Peters and Colin Valdiviez.
Then there's fellow freshman Ben Freeman who will be gunning for the spot at 141 for the Wolverines as well. Not as good of a record, Freeman did place eighth at last year's Midlands. He also had an early season victory, 6-4 sudden victory over Demas.
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IAN PARKER
Junior
IOWA STATE |
Parker is one of those wrestlers that is constantly and consistently improving as time progresses. By this stage in his career, he should be in serious contention for All American honors. Last season a 4-3 victory over Demas and a 6-3 victory over Brock. Under the helm of Kevin Dresser, similar wins will ensue.
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CODY TRYBUS
Junior
NAVY |
Taking over for EIWA runner-up & three time NCAA qualifier Nic Gil will be rather large shoes to fill, but Trybus should be a suitable replacement. I don't see anything too major happening, but one of the thirty-three at this year's NCAA tournament? I think so.
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EVAN CHEEK
Senior
CLEVELAND STATE |
I don't get many chances to speak positively on Cleveland State but 2018 EWL champ Evan Cheek gives me an opportunity to. With Perry, Leeth, & Shoop all in the conference, I don't know if Cheek has an opportunity to be the Vikings first MAC champ or not. He's a tough wrestler in a tough weight class. It's been a long while since they've had an All American and at this point, Cheek is the best bet.
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CHRIS DEBIEN
Senior
CHATTANOOGA |
He thus far won two Southern Conference championships when I didn't think he was going to. Anxious to see how he does against Heil this season. Like to see him have a great Southern Scuffle as well. Always rewarding to see wrestlers from the host team do well in front of the hometown crowd.
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GRANT WILLITS
Sophomore
OREGON STATE |
I said earlier that Stanford's Real Woods had a shot being a four time PAC-12 champion, but he'll have a tough enough time winning his first, with 2019 champion Willits in his way. I think the bracket was weaker than what it'll be this season, but take nothing away from Willits. He did defeat Parker last season 9-4.
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JOEY GOULD
Junior
BUCKNELL |
It seems odd that I'd include a .500 wrestler in my list of potential NCAA qualifiers but I cannot overlook a fifth place finish at the Midlands and a 9-1 major decision of Wisconsin's Tristan Moran. He also defeated Corey Shie 13-5 major decision.
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COREY SHIE
Sophomore
ARMY |
Saw quite a bit of potential mixed with a lot of rookie mistakes last season watching Shie wrestle. He had some great moments placing sixth at the Midlands, defeating Turner 8-6 and sticking Moran. I think the motor simply had to be fine tuned and the kinks worked out. I see him being one of 2020's most improved wrestlers.
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MARSHALL KELLER
Sophomore
PRINCETON |
Keller didn't qualify for the NCAA's last year, but I think he will this season. Princeton has one Hell of a coaching staff & I say they get him into the tournament.
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NATE LIMMEX
Senior
PURDUE |
His record is never all that impressive, but he always seem to find a way to wrestle well enough to get into the NCAA tournament. In a stacked BIG 10 weight class, it's hard to say exactly where he'll finish but he'll end his career with another NCAA qualification.
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PETER LIPARI
Senior
RUTGERS |
He had a losing record and had to pull off a series of upsets in order to get into the NCAA tournament last season. So it's not a given that he'll qualify this year. He is a contender though.
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SAL PROFACI
Senior
AMERICAN |
I've been wondering for a long time now whatever happened to Sal Profaci? Looking over the American wrestling roster, I found my answer. He's no longer a wolverine! He's now an Eagle. Health is the question here. An NCAA qualifier as a freshman, health will determine whether he qualifies this year as a senior or not. If healthy, he just made the EIWA that much tougher.
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MIKE BLOCKHUS
Freshman
NORTHERN IOWA |
Doug Schwab is showing what can be done with in state talent & that the state of Iowa still produces at the high school level enough quality to field a competitive Division I program. Freshman Mike Blockhus adds testimony to the claim. He's placed fourth at last year's Midlands. It'll be interesting to see where he stands in the BIG 12.
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ANTHONY SPARACIO
Junior
BINGHAMTON |
Looked the best he did all season at last year's EIWA championships. He wrestles like that again, he'll be facing Diakomihalis in the EIWA finals.
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CHRIS SANDOVAL
Sophomore
NORTHERN COLORADO |
Finished out last year with an 8-12 record. Had to pull off a miracle upset 5-3 over Northern Iowa's Josh Alber in order to secure an NCAA qualification. Could likely have been a fluke, but it presents enough substance to think he might do it again.
And that's 141. I see no challenge for the NCAA title. That's as good as Diakomihalis in the middle of March as it is today. Unless he gets sick or injured or takes an Olympic redshirt, he's your 141 lbs champ. The fight for All American is an all out Royal Rumble, with a handful of guys duking it out to see who gets to face Diakomihalis in the NCAA finals. Narrowed it down to 34 wrestlers that I think will fight for the 33 spots. More will be added, maybe a few subtracted as the season progresses.
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