I think when it is all said and done by year's end, Oklahoma has a decent shot at sending a full squad to the NCAA tournament. There are a few question marks among that statement, but I see no less than 8.
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| 125 Joey Prata Senior Record: 45-25 NCAA: 20'NQ ACC: 19'3rd, 20'3rd CKLV: 20'4th |
I was happy to see Prata transfer from Virginia Tech because there unfortunately wasn't room for him in the lineup there and he's way too good of a wrestler to miss out on his senior season. Could I see him being an All American this season? That's a tall order but wins over All American Patrick McKee of Minnesota, Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern & Malik Heinselman of Ohio Sate do give hope. He'll have his hands full in the BIG 12. From where I sit, there are 10 qualified individuals looking to place top 8 within the conference, Prata being one of them. The only one he has faced thus far is Killian Cardinale who defeated him by a score of 2-1.
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| 133 Anthony Madrigal Junior Record: 42-35 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ BIG 12: 20'4th, 21'2nd CKLV: 20'7th |
I see Madrigal finishing anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the BIG 12 championships this season. He's not beating Daton Fix of Oklahoma State & he has two other challenges in Mosha Schwartz of Northern Colorado and Matt Schmitt of Missouri. He's 0-2 Vs Schwartz but did place ahead of him at least year's BIG 12's. He's 0-1 Vs Schmitt.
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| 141 Dom Demas Junior Record: 83-21 NCAA: 19'4th, 20'NQ*, 21'R12 BIG 12: 19'1st, 20'2nd, 21'1st CKLV: 19'4th, 20'3rd |
After not placing at the NCAA championships last season, I am anxious to see how hell bent determined Demas is this year. Sticking Chad Red of Nebraska in 1:13 & owning a 13-9 victory over NCAA champion Nick Lee of Penn State is all the evidence I need to know that Demas IS NCAA champion material. Even within his losses, all of them have been very close. 1-3 point matches, most ending in sudden victory or tiebreakers.
With that said, the rivalry continues within the BIG 12 with Iowa State's Ian Parker. It was the finals in 2020, the finals in 2021 & it'll be the finals in 2022. Demas is 4-3 Vs Parker and the two are likely to meet multiple times this season.
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| 149 Mitch Moore Junior Record: 49-23 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'R12 ACC: 19'2nd, 20'WC BIG 12: 21'2nd CKLV: 20'8th |
Kinda neat how Moore and Prata were on the same team at Virginia Tech and now they're on the same team at Oklahoma. I wonder how often that's happened in the history of NCAA wrestling. Where two guys on the same team, transfer to the same school. I digress on my tangent.
As to Moore, I think he stands a good shot at winning a BIG 12 title this season. It'll be a three way war between himself, Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State and Jarret Degen of Iowa State. With wins like a 7-3 decision over Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State, I think Moore is All American material as well.
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| 157 Justin Thomas Senior Record: 86-46 NCAA: 19'R12, 20'NQ, 21'NQ BIG 12: 19'2nd, 20'4th, 21'3rd CKLV: 18'R12, 20'6th |
Thomas has been a difficult one for me to figure out. Thus far he's defeated NCAA 4th place Jacori Teemer of Arizona State twice, but in three matches he's been unable to get a win over North Dakota State's Jared Franek. He's for sure not beating David Carr of Iowa State, although I'll give him credit with how close he's kept those three matches. At this point I see Thomas finishing up about 3rd in the BIG 12. As to the NCAA's, I've thought ever since he was a freshman that he had the tools to stand among the top 8. This is his last shot to do so and as far as I'm concerned he could get as high as 4th.
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| 165 Joe Grello OR Anthony Mantanona Senior OR Junior Record: 41-31 OR Record: 61-34 NCAA: 19'NQ OR 20'NQ, 21'NQ BIG 10: 19'WC OR BIG 12: 20'2nd, 21'5th |
This will be a fun, interesting wrestle-off. Both of these guys are coming down from 174 lbs & I'd wager to say that whoever loses this wrestle-off bumps back up to 174. Either way at either weight class, Oklahoma has an NCAA qualifier. Within the BIG 12, at 174, I see either finishing somewhere between 4th and 7th.
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| 184 Darrien Roberts Sophomore Record: 23-19 BIG 12: 20'7th |
He was one match away from qualification in 2020. I think this season Roberts will finish 6th in the BIG 12 and I don't know if that alone is enough for an automatic allocation or even an at large bid. He's going to have to get victories over top 25 opponents, and I think he can. He does own a victory over Wyoming's Tate Samuelson & to give the Sooners another National qualifier, more wins like that are mandatory.
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| 197 Jake Woodley Junior Record: 69-32 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'6th BIG 12: 19'3rd, 20'5th, 21'5th CKLV: 20'4th |
It was rewarding watching Woodley finally start to wrestle as good as he is. He has so much potential but for some reason doesn't always wrestle as well as he can. I don't see him beating A.J. Ferrari of Oklahoma State, but honestly there isn't anyone else at 197 that he can't beat. Within the BIG 12, I can see him finishing as low as 4th. He's 0-1 Vs Rocky Elam of Missouri and he's 1-3 overall Vs Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. Yet, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see him defeat both of them this season and finish as the BIG 12 runner-up. The guy has the talent, ability, and tools to be an NCAA finalist this season. He gets out of his own head, stops thinking so much during his matches and just wrestles, he will be.
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| HWT Josh Heindselman Freshman Record: 26-13 NCAA: 21'NQ BIG 12: 21'4th |
He's 4-0 Vs Austin Harris of Oklahoma State and against 2021 BIG 12 Champion Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State, he took him into sudden victory or the tiebreakers every time they met. As far as I'm concerned Heindselman is a candidate for the BIG 12 title. I'd also call him a darkhorse candidate for All American status.
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125 - NQ (Darkhorse AA)
133 - NQ
141 - Champion
149 - All American
157 - All American
165 - NQ
174 - NQ (Almost betting that between Grello and Mantanona that one of these guys moves up)
184 - On the edge of Qualification
197 - 2nd
HWT - NQ (Darkhorse AA)
I'd imagine at this point I'm probably a little higher on Oklahoma than most of the "experts" you'll read within their rankings/outlooks. I think the Sooners have a good team this year.
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