Holy Cow! If you thought that 125 & 133 were loaded, wait until you check out 141! Bryce Villa has 14 of the wrestlers competing at the Midwest Classic ranked in the top 16. This includes 5 returning All Americans.
Where to even start? Son of a gun this is a loaded bracket. The talent here is unbelievable. We're talking darn near everyone who is anyone in NCAA DII 141 lbs wrestling. As you can tell by reading over the results I have provided, these guys know each other and they know each other well. That will mark for some good wrestling.
Colby Smith of Lindenwood may not get the #1 seed, but I do believe he'll be the man to beat. Since stints at both Appalachian State & Missouri, he's not quite the name taker I thought he would be. He qualified for DI's & just as if not more impressive he placed at the Southern Scuffle. His 3rd place showing at last year's NCAA DII's illustrates the overall competitiveness of DII. I do think that if it wasn't for the out of place 2-1 loss to Kuster, Smith would be ranked higher. Smith is a good pick if you're predicting champions here, but far from a lock.
Georgia native Christian Small of King, who finished 5th at last year's NCAA DII tournament has put together an impressive season thus far. He could very well be the #1 seed. Yet as seen in the results posted above, he is susceptible to an upset.
Two other All Americans in this bracket are Tate Murty of Upper Iowa who was 6th in the DII's last season and Branson Proudlock of Findlay who was 8th. In the realms of parity Murty pounded Proudlock pretty soundly, yet Smith defeated Murty & Proudlock owns a victory over Smith.
Then we have Luke Wymer of Ashland who I would call a potential Midwest Classic champion, as he owns a victory over Proudlock, but it's hard to see him atop the award stand considering a 12-2 major decision loss to Smith.
Mercyhurst's Alex Soriano is a guy I think could open up some eyes at this tournament. He was a Division II All American back in 2019 with an 8th place finish and he's gunning to earn back that status again this season. Pulling off a few upsets here would do him a world of good.
The Peter Kuster of Drury Vs Nate Keim of Central Oklahoma feud has been going on for about as long as the Hatfield's and the McCoy's. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them meet early on in the tournament and then face off again in a placement match. Speaking of Kuster can he pull off another huge upset like the 2-1 victory he did against Smith?
Then we have Devin Schwartzkopf of McKendree, Taylor Jokerst of Maryville, Dean Noble of Western Colorado, Breyden Bailey of Indianapolis, Elijah Hunter of Tiffin and Zeth Brower of Lander. There could very well be wrestlers in this bracket who end up placing at the NCAA DII tournament who do not place here. It truly is that tough.
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