Until proven otherwise the guy to beat here is two time CKLV champion Ryan Deakin of Northwestern. Results speak for themselves and I predict that he makes a strong statement by winning his third CKLV title in fashion. He's a cut above the rest and he'll illustrate that this weekend.
The question here is, who meets him in the finals? Minnesota's Brayton Lee who has a CKLV title in his own right is a good candidate, but as of late Nebraska's Peyton Robb has been on a role cementing himself as a giant killer knocking off 2021 NCAA champion Austin O'Connor of North Carolina and taking another 2021 NCAA Champion David Carr of Iowa State to the limit in a 7-5 overtime loss. Robb could very well come into this tournament and continue his ways of knocking off higher ranked/seeded opponents. With that said I wouldn't overlook Quincy Monday of Princeton who looked very sharp in a 9-5 victory over Iowa's Kaleb Young and while a bit more of a stretch, I'll call Kendall Coleman of Purdue a Darkhorse finalist too. Coleman has some impressive wins under his belt and throughout his losses many of them have been rather tight. It doesn't require much imagination to see him turning those close losses into victories. Perhaps another Darkhorse to point out is Michigan's Will Lewan has shown his capabilities in various matches. A lot of this will depend on who is seeded where, and they will want to be on the opposite side of the bracket of Deakin.
Oklaoma's Justin Thomas, Oregon State's Hunter Willits and Wyoming's Jacob Wright are all three wrestlers I'm anxious to watch in this tournament for various reasons. Thomas has been in a bit of rut for quite sometime. He defeated Wright four matches in a row and then Wright got him at the NCAA's. Last season he defeated Arizona State's Jacori Teemer twice, but then earlier this season dropped an 11-5 decision to the Sun Devil. He needs a positive in his career right now. Something to redeem his spirits and put him back on the right track. A good showing here at CKLV would do that. As to Willits, he's been riding the fence for quite some time. What he has going for him is that he's a very difficult wrestler to beat twice. He has a way of fixing his mistakes, looking for his opponent's weaknesses and capitalizing upon them. Currently ranked a little better than top 20, his potential says top 8. He'll more than have the opportunity to prove that at CKLV. Even though right now I believe Wright's #13 ranking is just and fair, throughout most of his career he has been overlooked and underrated. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him come in here and shock the wrestling world with a good tournament.
I'll say the same thing for Sacred Heart's Nick Palumbo that I'll say for The Citadel's Dazjon Casto. Both of these guys are NCAA qualification material, but both of them are going to have to earn their status throughout the season. CKLV provides a great opportunity for both of these guys to garner some big wins and perhaps a medal.
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