Once again a guide to the photos
Ranking/Name
School Name
The place they took at this tournament last season
The obvious choice for the #1 seed here is Purdue's Matt Ramos, although I can see him having to earn his title through both a tough semi-final & a tough final. #2 seed here I'll give to Drew West of Gardner-Webb over Jake Ferri of Kent State, even though Ferri is ranked and West is not. West defeated Ferri 11-1 last time the two met & that's hard for a guy like me to overlook. Ferri's 6-4 victory over Joe Fischer gives him the #3 seed & the fact that Fischer placed 4th to Colton Camacho's 5th here last year gives him the #4 I would think. The semis here I think will be a lot of fun.
The last time these two met Phillippi dominated in a 12-3 major decision. I think that will be a similar result this time around too. If Phillippi isn't the best wrestler in the nation yet to All American, he's one of them. He'll show that here. As to Varndell, I think he ought to make the finals. As far as I'm concerned he should. It'll be nice seeing Edinboro with a finalist.
Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh is the #1 wrestler in the nation right now & if he enters this tournament, he will be the #1 seed. If I were him I would be taking the probable #2 seed Parker Filius of Purdue very, very seriously. Filius is a dangerous threat. Matter of fact, he already owns a 6-3 decision over Matthews.
The obvious choices here for seeds #3 & #4 are Edinboro's Gabe Willochell & Navy's Josh Koderhandt. Filius, God bless his soul poses a danger to Matthews, but Willochell poses a danger to him. Should be a good semi-final. Should it pan out in action as it does in preview, the consolation battle between Willochell & Koderhandt should prove to be as exciting as will be the final between Matthews & Filius. Look for Brown's Justin Bierdumpfel & Clarion's Seth Koleno to battle it out for 5th.
Considering that none of these guys have ever met yet (collegiately anyway) it is only fair to go with the rankings as far as seeding is concerned. #1 seed for Kent State MAC champion Kody Komara & a #2 seed for Pittsburgh redshirt freshman Brock McMillen. With that noted, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were to find out that the "Price is right" this weekend. An NCAA R12'er in 2021 & he doesn't even get the liberty of a top 33 ranking? Talk about disrespect. He could very well win this tournament. Also look for a competitive showing out of Navy's Christian Hodges.
I'll get some rebuttal for this but I would actually seed Andrew Cerniglia of Navy #1 here & I'll tell you why. He had a 6-5 head to head victory over Pittsburgh's Dazjon Casto last season & he won this tournament. If that is what ends up happening, he'll face the winner of what should prove to be an excellent semi-final between Casto & Purdue's Kendall Coleman. While I don't see Clarion's Trevor Elfvin upsetting any of the top three here, I do think he's the 4th best wrestler in the bracket.
As to earning a top 6 placing, this is one of the more competitive weight classes. I believe our final here, which will also be our #1 & #2 seeds will be Holden Heller of Pittsburgh against R.J. Mosley of Gardner Webb. As to how 3rd through 6th will shape up, it's difficult to tell. What I can tell you is that for what it's worth Cam Pine of Clarion wrestled Heller to a 7-5 match, where it only took Heller thirty seconds to pin Harrison Trahan of Brown. At the same time though, Trahan owns a very nice 13-8 victory over Purdue's Stoney Buell. Buell being one of two Boilermakers out to make a name for themselves this season at 165, the other being Cooper Noehre. Last but far, far from least is Val Park of Navy. Where exactly he ends up between 3rd & 6th place is hard to say, but one place I would not predict is outside of it.
If I had to pick a champion here, I'm going with Purdue's talented Jake Null. None of these wrestlers have faced one another yet, but looking over the possibility of wrestlers who will attend this tournament, I believe those I have listed will make their way into a top 6 placing.
This will be a fun weight class. We have two Clarion Open runner-ups returning from last season & ironically neither was at 184 lbs last season. Will Feldkamp was at 197 & Reece Heller was at 174. I believe they will be our #1 & #2 seeds. I'd give the #3 seed to David Key of Navy & as Jha'Quan Anderson of Gardner Webb has an NCAA qualification to his resume, I give him the #4 over Edinboro's Ethan Ducca.
So as this plays out, we have a good quarterfinal matchup between Ducca & Anderson. The winner of that would take on Feldkamp in a semi, as the other semi would be Heller & Key. Some good wrestlign here.
This weight class really fascinates me for a number of reasons & I am anxious to see how it unfolds. As to the seeding, I think it's fairly straight forward.
#1 Bonaccorsi
#2 Penola
#3 Koser
#4 Bagoly
#5 Mulligan
#6 Bates
Some may switch Mulligan & Bates around since Bates won their most previous meeting 3-2, but Mulligan owns a 17-0 technical fall over Bates too.
Now here is what really gets me.... If you study the history within this potential bracket it really helps to illustrate how much Thomas Penola of Purdue has improved throughout his career. He has proven himself as an All American candidate, but he has losses to both Bagoly & Mulligan. Bagoly owns a 1:0 fall over him & Mulligan won a 4-2 decision. Do I see either one of those guys upsetting him shall they meet this weekend? No, but the previous results linger in my mind.
I think the probable final between Penola & Bonaccorsi will be a great match. Another opportunity for Purdue as a whole to show early on that they are up and coming as a team. On the flip side, Bonaccorsi was an NCAA runner-up in 2021, but one match shy of earning another medal last season. The chip on his shoulder will shine bright as well.
Lastly I'll say that Jake Koser won this tournament last season & if he is able to secure another title with both Penola & Bonaccorsi in the bracket, he more than deserves wrestler of the week honors.
I tell you what, I haven't seen all of the wrestle-offs from every team yet, but from what I have seen, Dayton Pitzer's 11-0 thrashing of Jacob Slinger is the one that sticks out most. Jacob Slinger is no slouch. He has some nice victories last season & finished a nose hair from NCAA qualification. For Pitzer to just manhandle him the way he did was very impressive. Now can the true freshman currently taking a redshirt do the same to the likes of Grady Griess of Navy & Jon Spaulding of Edinboro? I hope he enters this tournament, and we get to find out.
As for right now though, I'd give Pitzer the #3 seed, with the #1 seed going to Spaulding & the #2 seed going to Griess. Let Ryan Catka of Navy & Slinger battle it out for 4th.
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| 125 lbs |
The obvious choice for the #1 seed here is Purdue's Matt Ramos, although I can see him having to earn his title through both a tough semi-final & a tough final. #2 seed here I'll give to Drew West of Gardner-Webb over Jake Ferri of Kent State, even though Ferri is ranked and West is not. West defeated Ferri 11-1 last time the two met & that's hard for a guy like me to overlook. Ferri's 6-4 victory over Joe Fischer gives him the #3 seed & the fact that Fischer placed 4th to Colton Camacho's 5th here last year gives him the #4 I would think. The semis here I think will be a lot of fun.
 |
| 133 lbs |
The last time these two met Phillippi dominated in a 12-3 major decision. I think that will be a similar result this time around too. If Phillippi isn't the best wrestler in the nation yet to All American, he's one of them. He'll show that here. As to Varndell, I think he ought to make the finals. As far as I'm concerned he should. It'll be nice seeing Edinboro with a finalist.
 |
| 141 lbs |
Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh is the #1 wrestler in the nation right now & if he enters this tournament, he will be the #1 seed. If I were him I would be taking the probable #2 seed Parker Filius of Purdue very, very seriously. Filius is a dangerous threat. Matter of fact, he already owns a 6-3 decision over Matthews.
The obvious choices here for seeds #3 & #4 are Edinboro's Gabe Willochell & Navy's Josh Koderhandt. Filius, God bless his soul poses a danger to Matthews, but Willochell poses a danger to him. Should be a good semi-final. Should it pan out in action as it does in preview, the consolation battle between Willochell & Koderhandt should prove to be as exciting as will be the final between Matthews & Filius. Look for Brown's Justin Bierdumpfel & Clarion's Seth Koleno to battle it out for 5th.
 |
| 149 lbs |
Considering that none of these guys have ever met yet (collegiately anyway) it is only fair to go with the rankings as far as seeding is concerned. #1 seed for Kent State MAC champion Kody Komara & a #2 seed for Pittsburgh redshirt freshman Brock McMillen. With that noted, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were to find out that the "Price is right" this weekend. An NCAA R12'er in 2021 & he doesn't even get the liberty of a top 33 ranking? Talk about disrespect. He could very well win this tournament. Also look for a competitive showing out of Navy's Christian Hodges.
 |
| 157 lbs |
I'll get some rebuttal for this but I would actually seed Andrew Cerniglia of Navy #1 here & I'll tell you why. He had a 6-5 head to head victory over Pittsburgh's Dazjon Casto last season & he won this tournament. If that is what ends up happening, he'll face the winner of what should prove to be an excellent semi-final between Casto & Purdue's Kendall Coleman. While I don't see Clarion's Trevor Elfvin upsetting any of the top three here, I do think he's the 4th best wrestler in the bracket.
 |
| 165 lbs |
As to earning a top 6 placing, this is one of the more competitive weight classes. I believe our final here, which will also be our #1 & #2 seeds will be Holden Heller of Pittsburgh against R.J. Mosley of Gardner Webb. As to how 3rd through 6th will shape up, it's difficult to tell. What I can tell you is that for what it's worth Cam Pine of Clarion wrestled Heller to a 7-5 match, where it only took Heller thirty seconds to pin Harrison Trahan of Brown. At the same time though, Trahan owns a very nice 13-8 victory over Purdue's Stoney Buell. Buell being one of two Boilermakers out to make a name for themselves this season at 165, the other being Cooper Noehre. Last but far, far from least is Val Park of Navy. Where exactly he ends up between 3rd & 6th place is hard to say, but one place I would not predict is outside of it.
 |
| 174 lbs |
If I had to pick a champion here, I'm going with Purdue's talented Jake Null. None of these wrestlers have faced one another yet, but looking over the possibility of wrestlers who will attend this tournament, I believe those I have listed will make their way into a top 6 placing.
 |
| 184 lbs |
This will be a fun weight class. We have two Clarion Open runner-ups returning from last season & ironically neither was at 184 lbs last season. Will Feldkamp was at 197 & Reece Heller was at 174. I believe they will be our #1 & #2 seeds. I'd give the #3 seed to David Key of Navy & as Jha'Quan Anderson of Gardner Webb has an NCAA qualification to his resume, I give him the #4 over Edinboro's Ethan Ducca.
So as this plays out, we have a good quarterfinal matchup between Ducca & Anderson. The winner of that would take on Feldkamp in a semi, as the other semi would be Heller & Key. Some good wrestlign here.
 |
| 197 lbs |
This weight class really fascinates me for a number of reasons & I am anxious to see how it unfolds. As to the seeding, I think it's fairly straight forward.
#1 Bonaccorsi
#2 Penola
#3 Koser
#4 Bagoly
#5 Mulligan
#6 Bates
Some may switch Mulligan & Bates around since Bates won their most previous meeting 3-2, but Mulligan owns a 17-0 technical fall over Bates too.
Now here is what really gets me.... If you study the history within this potential bracket it really helps to illustrate how much Thomas Penola of Purdue has improved throughout his career. He has proven himself as an All American candidate, but he has losses to both Bagoly & Mulligan. Bagoly owns a 1:0 fall over him & Mulligan won a 4-2 decision. Do I see either one of those guys upsetting him shall they meet this weekend? No, but the previous results linger in my mind.
I think the probable final between Penola & Bonaccorsi will be a great match. Another opportunity for Purdue as a whole to show early on that they are up and coming as a team. On the flip side, Bonaccorsi was an NCAA runner-up in 2021, but one match shy of earning another medal last season. The chip on his shoulder will shine bright as well.
Lastly I'll say that Jake Koser won this tournament last season & if he is able to secure another title with both Penola & Bonaccorsi in the bracket, he more than deserves wrestler of the week honors.
 |
| HWT |
I tell you what, I haven't seen all of the wrestle-offs from every team yet, but from what I have seen, Dayton Pitzer's 11-0 thrashing of Jacob Slinger is the one that sticks out most. Jacob Slinger is no slouch. He has some nice victories last season & finished a nose hair from NCAA qualification. For Pitzer to just manhandle him the way he did was very impressive. Now can the true freshman currently taking a redshirt do the same to the likes of Grady Griess of Navy & Jon Spaulding of Edinboro? I hope he enters this tournament, and we get to find out.
As for right now though, I'd give Pitzer the #3 seed, with the #1 seed going to Spaulding & the #2 seed going to Griess. Let Ryan Catka of Navy & Slinger battle it out for 4th.
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