I I don't think this tournament is going to be as locked and loaded as the Michigan State or Southeast Open but there is still quite a bit here that could prove to be rather interesting.
125 lbs
#7 Michael McGee of Old Dominion should the top seed here although he'll be challenged by #12 Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State and #17 Gabriel Townsell of Stanford. I also look for currently unranked Gage Curry of American to perhaps knock one of these ranked wrestlers off along they way to a high placement. He has habit of remaining in the shadows, being overlooked and then pulling off an upset.
141 lbs
There's a lot here that catches my eye. First off #12 Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State & #15 Sa'Derian Perry of Old Dominion. Both were All Americans in 2018 but failed short of capturing a second medal in 2019. The precedent is often set early in wrestling and this gives us a glimpse at where they're at. It'll also be a great opportunity to see #17 Real Woods of Stanford. I predict that by year's end he could be one of our top freshmen. Anxious to see him against Wilson and/or Perry. Lastly I'm anxious to see where Sal Profaci stands in the mix of things. While at Michigan he had a respectable career, qualifying for the 2017 NCAA tournament. Now wrestling for American, if healthy I think he makes it into the rankings relatively soon.
157 lbs
Are we going to get lucky enough to see #1 Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State vs #4 Larry Early of Old Dominion? I doubt it. These early season tournaments usually avoid such marquee matches but wouldn't that be exciting? Early knocked off Hidlay in a dual last season and it'd be anxious to see if he could do it again. Also curious to see if currently redshirting Dom Mandarino of Stanford enters the tournament. If so, he'll give whoever he meets in the semi-finals all they can handle.
165 lbs
Tom Bullard #11 for North Carolina State vs #9 Shane Griffith of Stanford is the finals match I think we'll see. I'd love to see unranked Dazjon Casto of the Citadel do something to capture the attention of the wrestling community. Watching him wrestle last season it was obvious that he has a lot of talent and potential. Very aggressive, he simply needed to fine tune a few things and I think a lot of his losses would turn into wins. I'm anxious to see how much he's improved since last season.
174 lbs
I doubt Matt Finesilver of Duke who is redshirting enters the tournament but he might. If he doesn't then #15 Daniel Bullard of North Carolina State shouldn't have any trouble winning the title
184 lbs
On the surface this looks like an easy win for #15 Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State. Yet I think #18 Tanner Harvey of American may prove to be a bigger challenge than some would predict. I also think that Judah Duhm of Stanford could possibly make some noise here as well.
197 lbs
#8 Nick Reenan of North Carolina State looks to be the forerunner here but #10 Nathan Traxler of Stanford should give him all he can handle.
HWT
Haydn Maley of Stanford currently enjoys a #20 ranking but ironically his stiffest competition here looks to be teammate Trevor Rasmussen. A chance to see a great wrestle off between the Cardinal.
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