In a lot of ways this world makes little sense to me. What makes absolutely no sense to me is how or why Bernard Muir would want to take one of his most successful teams at his school and throw them away. That I can't make any sense of. Stanford from my estimation could have up to 8 NCAA qualifiers this season. I see three All Americans and two of them contend for individual national titles. That's success, accomplishment and credentials that should make someone like Muir proud. Amazing how it doesn't.
 |
| 125 Jackson DiSariio Sophomore Record: 28-14 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'NQ PAC 12: 20'2nd, 21'2nd |
Another solid year in what looks to be another PAC-12 runner up finish for the sophomore. He's 0-3 vs Brandon Courtney of Arizona State, so that's not a match I see him winning, but he is 3-1 Vs Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State, which is his only other competition within the PAC-12.
 |
| 133 Jason Miranda Freshman Record: 6-4 |
He owns an 8-4 victory over Oklahoma's Anthony Madrigal and he pinned Cal State Bakersfield's Chance Rich. I project him to finish 3rd at the PAC-12's. I'm not sure if that alone will be enough to propel him into the NCAA tournament. He'll definitely need to add quality wins throughout the season. He does that, I think he's a national qualifier.
 |
| 141 Real Woods Sophomore Record: 47-5 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'R12 PAC 12: 20'1st, 21'2nd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'2nd, 20'1st |
A contender for the NCAA title this season. He lost a tight 6-3 decision to Nick Lee of Penn State and there was nothing about that match that told me he couldn't turn that into a win. To solidify his chances even more, he owns a 3-1 sudden victory over Oklahoma's Dom Demas and a 3-2 victory over North Carolina's Zach Sherman. Within the PAC-12 he did lose by fall to Grant Willits of Oregon State, but he's handled Willits in three other matches. See a second PAC-12 title and a run at the NCAA title for Woods this season.
 |
| 149 Jaden Abas Record: 39-8 NCAA: 21'7th PAC 12: 21'1st RENO: 20'1st SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 20'1st |
Like I said about Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan, what impresses me most about a wrestler is when he (or she for that matter) is able to take a bad loss and turn it into a win. Legend Lamer of Cal Poly tech'd Abas 16-1 & then beat him 4-3. Abas was able to take both of those losses and turn them around into defeating Lamer 10-5 at the PAC-12 championships. Those types of results say a lot to me. I'm confident that Abas wins an NCAA title before his career is said and done. I'm almost positive that he at least makes the finals. Yet, I'm not sure if it will happen this year. Diakomihalis, Sasso, + others is a lot to overcome. All American for sure.
 |
| 157 Shane Griffith Sophomore Record: 64-3 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'1st PAC 12: 20'1st, 21'2nd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 19'3rd, 20'1st |
A returning NCAA champion, ironically enough some of Griffith's most challenging competition will be within the PAC-12 conference. The only opponent still competing in NCAA wrestling that Griffith hasn't been able to overcome is Anthony Valencia of Arizona State who defeated him for last year's PAC-12 title. Evan Wick a transfer from Wisconsin who now competes for Cal Poly will be another adversary to come over. Seeing that he should wrestle each of these opponents at least once, if not twice before the NCAA's, it'll be a good measuring stick as to where he's at.
 |
| 174 Tyler Eischens Sophomore Record: 46-18 NCAA: 20'NQ PAC 12: 20'2nd SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 20'R12 |
I think Eischens stands a very good shot at winning a PAC-12 title for the Cardinal this season. 174 in the PAC-12 doesn't look to be particularly loaded and at the moment I see Eischens at the front.
 |
| 184 Judah Duhm Senior Record: 21-19 SOUTHERN SCUFFLE: 18'R12 |
He's been out of commission for the past two seasons, but prior results from past seasons suggest to me that Duhm could add an NCAA qualification for the white and cardinal. He owns a 6-4 sudden victory over PAC-12 champion Dom Ducharme of Cal State Bakersfield as well as a 6-4 decision of two time NCAA qualifier Corey Hazel of Lock Haven. With Bernie Truax of Cal Poly and Tanner Harvey of Oregon State both at 184, I think Duhm at least on paper is good enough to finish 3rd in the conference. Like with Miranda, that alone probably isn't enough to secure a seat on the plane to Detroit. He'll have to rack up some quality wins throughout the season.
 |
| 197 Haydn Maley Junior Record: 29-17 NCAA: 19'NQ PAC 12: 19'2nd |
He had success at HWT, so I don't see any reason why he shouldn't have success down at 197. I can't see him defeating Arizona State's Kordell Norfleet but I think he should be his opponent in the PAC-12 finals, adding another PAC-12 runner-up finish to his resume.
===
125 - NQ
133 - NQ
141 - Champion
149 - All American
157 - DNQ
165 - Champion
174 - NQ
184 - NQ
197 - NQ
HWT - DNQ
That's 8 NCAA qualifiers I see for the Cardinal and at worst I can't see anything less than 6. 133 & 184 are question marks, but neither are huge question marks. Woods & Griffith both contend for NCAA titles this season & I expect some to metaphorically slap me for not listing Abas in the same category. I just gotta see him against Diakomihalis and Sasso before I can do that. With that said, I know I gotta get off it with my anger towards Muir for trying to dismantle this program, but I wrote about 427 dropped wrestling programs in my "Gone, Lost and Forgotten" series. It's a touchy subject with me and I'm not too keen on individuals like Muir.
No comments:
Post a Comment