While it doesn't quite get the hype or attention that CKLV, the Midlands or the Southern Scuffle do, the Reno Tournament of Champions is still one of the toughest in season tournaments in collegiate wrestling. A great mixture of NCAA Division I and NAIA talent will do battle this Sunday.
The man to beat at 125 lbs is Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State. The Beaver absolutely tore the field up at Cliff Keen with an impressive 3rd place finish & looks to capture a gold medal here. Finals opponent could very well be Antonio Lorenzo of Cal Poly, who Kaylor has defeated twice this season by scores of 10-6 & 3-1. Representing the NAIA a Darkhorse finalist here is Grand View four time All American Justin Portillo. Portillo took Lorenzo to a tight 5-4 match and he looked respectable in a 9-4 defeat against Kaylor. While I do think both Andrew Fallon of American & Jake Svihel of Wyoming make the award stand, I don't think Portillo will be the only NAIA wrestler standing on it at the end of Sunday's competition. Look for teammate Aden Reeves, Menlo's Riley Siason and Southeastern's Isaac Crowell to all fight for a spot in the top 6.
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| 125 lbs |
The man to beat at 125 lbs is Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State. The Beaver absolutely tore the field up at Cliff Keen with an impressive 3rd place finish & looks to capture a gold medal here. Finals opponent could very well be Antonio Lorenzo of Cal Poly, who Kaylor has defeated twice this season by scores of 10-6 & 3-1. Representing the NAIA a Darkhorse finalist here is Grand View four time All American Justin Portillo. Portillo took Lorenzo to a tight 5-4 match and he looked respectable in a 9-4 defeat against Kaylor. While I do think both Andrew Fallon of American & Jake Svihel of Wyoming make the award stand, I don't think Portillo will be the only NAIA wrestler standing on it at the end of Sunday's competition. Look for teammate Aden Reeves, Menlo's Riley Siason and Southeastern's Isaac Crowell to all fight for a spot in the top 6.
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| 133 lbs |
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| 141 lbs |
If Real Woods of Stanford is back in action he is obviously the #1 seed. However, as history proves, when out for a long period of time Woods is susceptible to upset. He was 2-0 Vs Grant Willits of Oregon State having majored him 9-1 & 11-2, when Willits pinned him at 4:42 in the PAC-12 championships after Woods had missed most of the season. Woods came back at the NCAA's to defeat Willits 6-3. If Woods is still out, then Willits is our obvious #1 seed. He owns a 12-5 major decision over likely finalist Lawrence Saenz of Cal Poly and he tech'd Chase Zollman of Wyoming who will fight for 3rd place 19-1. I can see Bobby Robinson of Texas Wesleyan, Chris Kelly of Southeastern and especially Shea Ruffridge of Grand View representing the NAIA by getting into the 5th place match.
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| 149 lbs |
90% positive that we're going to see a rivalry continue in the finals with Stanford's Jaden Abas & Cal Poly's Legend Lamer. The two have met on three occasions , with completely different results all three times. Lamer destroyed Abas the first time they met 16-0 technical fall & then had an extremely conservative match with him where he held on for a 4-3 decision. The third time they met it was Abas who was in control the entire time with a solid 10-5 decision. So who knows what will happen here? The 10% of me that doubts that prediction says that there is a slight chance Cory Crooks of Oregon State could sneak in their with an upset. Crooks has had some good matches with both Lamer & Abas. He took Lamer to a 5-4 decision & Abas to a 7-4 decision. If he doesn't get the upset, he'll be the man to take 3rd. He majored Jaron Jensen of Wyoming 19-9 who in turn has a convincing 9-2 victory over Brent Moore of Clarion. While Abas & Lamer can be switched around, and the thought of Crooks getting into the finals is indeed a real concept to consider, I think 4th and 5th place will finish in that order.
6th place as far as I'm concerned is open & again an opportunity for the NAIA to bring home some hardware. NAIA champion Andreus Bond looked solid in route to winning his title, but recently fell apart at the Life Open in Georgia. This would be a perfect opportunity to redeem himself by medaling in a tournament that features top DI competition. In doing so though, he'll have three Vikings from Grand View, Jack Latimer, Trevor Anderson and Tanner Abbas who want that medal every bit as much as he does.
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| 157 lbs |
With the way that he wrestled at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in route to a 3rd place finish, it would seem that Wyoming's Jacob Wright would walk away with a Reno title no problem. He might very well walk away with the Reno title, but I guarantee he'll have a problem along the way and that problem will be Hunter Willits of Oregon State. Willits finished one match shy of placing at CKLV & that could be the inspiration he needs to pull off an upset over Wright. Willits is one of those wrestlers you NEVER want to look over. Sometimes he can be most dangerous when least expected.
Kolby Ho of Clarion, praise the gods of parity & inconsistency is one of those wrestlers you never know quite what to expect out of. Can I see him placing as high as 3rd? Yes, I can but I can also see Charlie Darracott of Stanford taking 3rd too. Since moving up to the NCAA Division I level the transition has been slow for California Baptist. The lancers need something to jump start the program into their new division. I think a good showing out of A.J. Raya would help to do that.
Lastly I look for Giovanny Bonilla of Grand View to be the top representation for the NAIA in this bracket. While I think Wright and Willits are both way out of the question, a victory or two over DI competition would not surprise me at all. I can also see teammate Dalton Jensen and Beau Blackman of Embry Riddle as plausible top 6 place-winners as well.
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| 165 lbs |
Unless one of them doesn't wrestle or one of them gets hurt, we are 100% guaranteed a rematch of the CKLV finals between Cal Poly's Evan Wick and Stanford's Shane Griffith. With all of the negativity surrounding California wrestling at the collegiate level over the past years, this ought to be a match that every Californian is celebrating. Wick took it to Griffith 6-2 in Vegas & the question is, can he upend the 2021 National Champion in the same fashion in Reno? Gut instinct says no. Griffith was an NCAA champion, who only has three losses in his varsity career for a reason. Tapes have been studied, mistakes have been corrected, adjustments have been made. This rematch is going to be a calculated chess match that would leave Bobby Fisher puzzled. Match of the night? Likely.
3rd place as far as I'm concerned should go to Cole Moody of Wyoming. As the fight for 4th will be between Clarion's Cam Pine, Oregon State's Matt Olguin and American's Timothy Fitzpatrick. Does the NAIA get in on any of this action? Best bet is Grand View's Marty Margolis. I can see the Viking having a good tournament and finding himself on the award stand. I also wouldn't count out Jordan Komac of Providence or Chase Short of Montana State Northern either.
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| 174 lbs |
At first glance one would predict a final between Hayden Hastings of Wyoming and Adam Kemp of Cal Poly. Seedings I imagine will reflect that premonition, but I think this weight class is more open than that. Both Tyler Eischens of Stanford & Aaron Olmos of Oregon State who finished one match shy of placing compared to Kemp's 6th place finish at CKLV own victories over the Mustang. Olmos defeated Kemp 6-4 sudden victory and Eischens defeated him 11-5. A sleeper here could very well be Grand View's Casey Randles, a former Cowboy himself, he's split with Hastings 1-1, having lost by fall and owning an impressive 8-1 decision. What a treat it would be for the NAIA for Randles to come into this bracket with ranked DI opponents and walk out champion. Look for Clarion's John Worthing to be a place winner, as Keegan Mulhill of Eastern Oregon and Coleman Bryant of Southeastern will each contend for a spot in the top 6 as well.
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| 184 lbs |
HERE. WE. GO. I have been waiting for this for a long time and now I'm finally going to get to see it. Just how good will Grand View's Ben Provisor be in collegiate wrestling? Having been a wrestling fan for over 30 years, I've seen tons of conversations centered around the topic of Best to Never Win a National Title? Or Best to Never All American? Without fail some wiseacre will always utter the name of someone that succeeded in international competition but never wrestled collegiately. It's annoying and irritating but so many believe without question that HAD they wrestled collegiately they would've just mopped the floor with the competition. I think when Tony Ramos stuck Olympic Champion Henry Cejudo he proved that obviously wouldn't always be the case. What humors me about Provisor is that with the 5th year of varsity granted due to COVID-19, a lot of pretentiousness has found its way into the wrestling community with fans getting their panties in a bunch over kids taking that extra year & being a tad older than what they believe a college senior (eligibility wise) should be. Let's give it a little perspective. Some kids in college wrestling today were born when I was in high school. I was in pre-school when Provisor was born & I'm a lot closer to 40 than I am to 30. Age never has bothered me though. In fact I'm all for it. I loved seeing 38 year old Richard Jensen defy the odds & qualify for the NJCAA championships for Clackamas 11 years ago. I loved seeing Daniel Waters make a comeback in his late 20's for American and earn All American status. If Provisor has gray hairs in his beard by the time he graduates from Grand View, I say call him Grandpa and start a fan section that rivals Robin Ficker in noise level. Wrestling could use a group of individuals who cheer for the older guy, maybe counter balance the large section who thinks your 17th birthday ought to fall a few days before your first collegiate match.
Ok, rant over....
BUT, that still leaves us with the question of just how good will Provisor be on the collegiate mats? We're going to get to find out. With All American Bernie Truax of Cal Poly and Tate Samuelson of Wyoming who recently finished 4th at CKLV, he's going to be plenty tested on Sunday.
Not to be completely overshadowed here, Provisor's teammate Ben Lee is one tough S.O.G. himself. He impressed the heck out of me last year coming back from a first round loss to capture 3rd place at the NAIA championships. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him have a good tournament and bring himself home a medal from RENO.
Connor Bourne of American and Jackson McKinney of Oregon State are two others that will contend for top 6 status & on a personal level I'd love to see Kyle Knudtson of Eastern Oregon take home a medal. Whenever we have multiple sport athletes in wrestling they almost always seem to be in football. It's refreshing to see one of our athletes also on the baseball field. I'll admit my bias here as baseball is my second favorite sport. I think you might already know my first.
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| 197 lbs |
I don't see anyone beating Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming. A CKLV title & recently taking NCAA Champion A.J. Ferarri of Oklahoma State to a 4-2 decision, the Cowboy is going to find himself another piece of gold in Reno. With that said Silver is still available & this is where I think opportunity for the NAIA shines. Stanford's Nick Stemmet will be tough, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Montana State Northern's Isaac Bartel, Southeastern's Gage Braun or Grand View's Owen Braungardt in the finals. Either way, I think all of them place top 6.
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| HWT |
Gas Tank Gary Traub of Oregon State sure looked good at CKLV didn't he? I don't think anyone was expecting him to walk out of there with a championship & he silenced a lot of doubters in Vegas. Does he win another title in Reno? The only thing possibly stopping him is Wyoming's Brian Andrews. He defeated Andrews 3-1 in the CKLV quarterfinals. Andrews defaulted out of the tournament Medical Forfeiting his next match, losing out on what would have been his third CKLV medal. This is a rematch I'm anxious to see, and what I'm almost 100% positive we'll see for a CKLV final. Look for Peter Ming of Stanford to lead the way to a bronze medal & placings out of Noel Orozco of Eastern Oregon and Jesse Pryor of Southeastern.
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