Southeast Open Preview (11-5-2022)

 

There has been some great wrestling at Southeast Opens in year's past and with all of the teams scheduled to compete this season, this could turn out to be a rather competitive tournament. 

125 lbs

It's going to be a chore for Joe Manchio of Columbia to defend the championship that he won here last season. Based on ranking & result, the #1 seed is most likely to go to 2021 All American Killian Cardinale. I would say that Manchio would most likely get a #3 seed, meaning that he would have to upset both Caleb Smith of Appalachian State as well as Cardinale in order to obtain a second title. The darkhorse to watch for here is Virginia's Patrick McCormick. Despite being unranked as well as inconsistent he does own victories over both Smith & Cardinale. I'm anxious to see just how good Virginia Tech's Eddie Ventresca really is & he'll have plenty of competition here to show me.  I also wouldn't be all that surprised to see a good showing out of Jack Wagner, who is looking to prove himself as a Tar Heel after spending most of his career as a Panther.  Last but not least look for both Spencer Moore of North Carolina & Cooper Flynn of Virginia Tech to fight for a top six showing. 

133 lbs

The likely final here is a matchup between North Carolina's Jaime Hernandez and Virginia Tech's Sam Latona. In fact I would give it a very high probability as our likely semi-final between Latona & Appalachian State's Sean Carter last ended in a 10-1 major decision for the Hokie. I do think though that Carter is a strong candidate for third place. We haven't seen Joey Melendez since the 2019-2020 season & I would be surprised to see him show up here, but I would much welcome it. If there be a darkhorse that might pull off an upset, it'd be Columbia's Angelo Rini. 

 

 

141 lbs 

Often the name of the game in collegiate wrestling is proving yourself time and time again. That is certainly the case here at 141 lbs.  Returning champion Matt Kazimir of Columbia will be the favorite in this bracket, but he'll have to go through some pretty stiff competition in order to bring home another gold medal.  For one, many, including your's truly are very excited about the potential of North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil. The Canadian world team member hasn't even wrestled his first varsity match yet & he's already a Commonwealth Games Silver medalist. He himself will have his work cut out, as he's likely to meet up with Virginia Tech's Collin Gerardi (2nd here last season) long before he'd ever see Kazimir. Another guy here to not overlook is Virginia's Dylan Cedeno. No stranger to upset, he shut out 2022 NCAA runner-up Kizhan Clarke 5-0 at the ACC championships & he also defeated Gerardi 7-5. Is there potential here for Appalachian State's Heath Gonyer to perhaps pull off an upset? Not sure, but I would say he should be our 5th placer. 

149 lbs 

There is a lot to digest here as we take a look at the 149 lbs weight class.  On paper, it looks like an easy take home title for two time All American Jonathan Millner of Appalachian State, but it may be a much harder task once we take it to the mat. While he owns a win over likely #2 seed Zach Sherman of North Carolina, it should be noted that he is 0-1 Vs Jarod Verkleeren & 0-2 against Denton Spencer, both of Virginia. Neither have reached the potential that their careers started off with & both only have this season left. If either is going to make something happen, now's the time to do it. Sherman has defeated Verkleeren twice & after a rough adjustment to 149 last season, looks this year to have the success he had while competing at 141. Also in the mix of those in the fight for a top six showing will be Columbia's Danny Fongaro & West Virginia's Sam Hillegas. 

157 lbs 

At the present time Austin O'Connor of North Carolina may be ranked lower than Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech, but head to head, it is the Tar Heel who owns four victories over the Hokie. O'Connor has defeated Andonian 10-8, 11-4, 11-7 and 10-4. I'd look for the plausible semi-final between Andonian and Virginia's Jake Keating to be much better than their current rankings might suggest. As to places 4th through 6th, I'd look to Cody Bond of Appalachian State, Cesar Alvan of Columbia & Alex Hornfeck of West Virginia. 

165 lbs 

A very competitive weight class with the heavy favorite here being Peyton Hall of West Virginia. I would look for Justin McCoy of Virginia to be his opponent in the finals as McCoy has already defeated likely semi-final opponent Josh Ogunsanya of Columbia 6-1. Hall, for the record owns an 8-0 major decision over McCoy. As we speculate the other three place-winners of the bracket, Appalachian State's Will Formato is a strong candidate for a top six showing & we'll see the three Hokies duke it out as they continue to battle for the varsity position. As of right now Drew Nicholson has the ranking, but as good as both Connor Brady & Clayton Ulrey both are, it'll be hard to hold on to.  The possible darkhorse in all of this could be The Citadel's Selwyn Porter.  He isn't beating Hall, McCoy, Ogunsanya or Formato but the idea of him pulling off an upset or two to find himself wrestling for 5th? That'd doable. 

174 lbs 

It's as close to a guarantee as you're gonna get that our final here will be between last year's champion Mekhi Lewis & North Carolina's Clay Lautt. While all three meetings between the Hokie & the Tar Heel has been close, they have all ended 4-2 in favor of Lewis.  The real question here is, how do places 3rd through 6th shape up? We have some good talent here, but none of these guys have faced one another yet. Both Nick Fine of Columbia & Scott Joll of West Virginia have wrestled well at times in the past & could make a run at a 3rd place finish. Victor Marcelli of Virginia, a 2021 NCAA qualifier found himself in a slump last season. What better way to make like Arnold Schwarzenegger & "be back" than to have a strong performance here? Justin Phillips & Robert Patrick, both of Virginia, along with The Citadel's Ben Haubert also contend for top 6 showings. 

184 lbs 

This weight class actually returns the top three place-winners from last season & all three will have a heck of a challenge maintaining their positions if this turns out to be as tough as it has potential to. Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech is our returning champion, but he already has two tough losses from last season to North Carolina's Gavin Kane. A win here is huge for either wrestler.  It's tough to defeat someone good three times in a row & a third win for Kane would be signifying.  VMI's Zach Brown was the runner-up here & Davidson's Gavin Henry was 3rd. With Neil Antrassian of Virginia & Anthony Carman of West Virginia both at the weight, duplicating last year's results as said, will be a challenge. Nevertheless both should still contend hard for top six showings. 

197 lbs 

There is opportunity here for some unranked wrestlers to make their way into the rankings. I'll be anxious to see who gets the #1 seed between Max Shaw of North Carolina & Michael Battista of Virginia Tech. While Shaw currently has the higher ranking, it is Battista who won their only head to head matchup with a convincing 10-3 decision. If Battista gets the #1 seed & Shaw gets the #2 seed, this potentially sets Shaw up with a match against Virginia Tech's Dakota Howard. While Shaw is 2-0 thus far against the Hokie, Howard gave him one heck of a scare the last time they met in a wild 10-9 matchup.  Andy Smith of Virginia Tech is always tough & the one to really keep an eye on is VMI's Tyler Mousaw. Since the graduation of Neil Richards, the Keydets have been looking for their next star. Mousaw could very well be it. Winning this tournament or even making the finals would be a statement. 

HWT

The last time Virginia Tech's Hunter Catka & West Virginia's Michael Wolfgram met on the mat, Catka scored a very impressive 17-3 major decision. If the two are to meet here again in a potential final, I think the score will be much closer. Wolfgram has improved tremendously & will give Catka a much better match.  A guy to watch for here is North Carolina's Brandon Whitman. An NCAA qualifier all the way back in 2019, if he is to make a second trip to nationals this season, he's going to have to pull off some big upsets. His one & only meeting with Catka thus far ending in a tight 4-3 decision.  Another guy to not overlook in this bracket is Appalachian State's Mason Fiscella who has been known to pull off an upset or two as well.