Iowa Vs Iowa State Preview (12-3-22)

 

Black or Cardinal, either way this dual is gonna be gold!! The Iowa Hawkeyes in a quest to be crowned NCAA team champions by year's end have their toughest challenge to date on the season. The Iowa State Cyclones come into town ready to do battle with upset on their minds. The tornadoes are coming in fierce winds, looking to destroy everything in their path. Yet Hawks are ferocious birds, often known to brave the harshest of weather. 

Here's the lineup fellas & if it's good enough for Cody Goodwin, then it's good enough for JT#1! 

Tom Brands Vs Kevin Dresser 

We have two of the best collegiate wrestling coaches in NCAA DI going head to head with both knowing the importance of this epic dual. Tom Brands in his expectation of absolute excellence looking to add another W to the long list of Hawkeye victories and Kevin Dresser looking to knock Iowa off the pedestal of being the top program in the state as he continues building a tradition of his own. Is the bad blood that boils truly between these two living legends or is it more in what they represent?  Two sides to this coin. What happened at Virginia Tech all those years ago objectively speaking was an unfortunate series of events. Tom Brands from what I have been told and from what understand was always upfront and truthful about his desire to be head coach at the University of Iowa. Reliable sources have informed me that he made it clear that if ever offered a position at Iowa, he would take it. If true, I respect that. In fact, I only have one problem with it. Piss off who it may, Brands has spoken more than once in the past of how during Gable's time as a wrestler there were 150+ programs in NCAA Division I.  At the time he left Virginia Tech for Iowa, I believe there a little over 70.  We discontinue & add so much so often, it's hard to keep track.  The point is, he spoke of how we've lost so many programs throughout the years. He criticized athletic directors, athletic programs & school administrations for not doing more for their wrestling teams. He challenged them to lay it all down and do what they could for wrestling at their school.  Virginia Tech was one of the first programs to take Brands' message to heart. They hired him as a coach, upgraded their facilities and brought in a phenomenal recruiting class. Do something to show wrestling is vital to the school? Brother the Hokies went ABOVE and BEYOND. So trust me, I get the bitterness. I get the anger.  I love Tom Brands & I'm not saying that to kiss anyone's ass. Ask me how I feel about Andy Seras, I don't hold my feelings back on anyone. Facts are facts, it's that simple. Brands, again from what I understand was upfront about the "if Iowa ever offers me" but at the same time you can't be that blinded by black & gold light that you completely disconnect yourself from the other point of view. I get it from both sides. 

Dresser plays the diplomat and I don't know if he realizes how blatantly obvious his passive aggressive nature is. He's not fooling anybody. Wrestling has a difficult time facing itself in the truth that its got more in common with football, basketball, baseball, boxing, hockey than it'd like to admit. Their are rivalries here where there's a respect for who you are, what you've done and what you're capable of, but there's also a desire to draw blood. Brands is gonna keep it civil in any post dual interview he gives should Iowa win, but inside he'll be happier than a pig in shit if he sends Dresser back to Ames with a L.  Should the Cyclones win, Dresser will find the nicest way possible to say, Wewinna Brandi Vicci. Translated to, "We kicked your ass Brands."   This is Cobra Kai Vs Eagle Fang Miyagi people. May the best team prevail. 

Aiden Harris Vs Kysen Terukina
125 lbs 

The absence of Spencer Lee poses extremely well for the Cyclones. Coming into a dual like this without Lee is like driving a tank into battle without any missiles or bullets for the machine gun. In what otherwise very well could have been a fall for the Hawkeyes, is now going to be no less than a decision for the Clones. No offense to the 2021 NJCAA All American but the transition to NCAA DI wrestling has thus far NOT been a smooth transaction for him. Maybe eventually he'll get the hang of things, but against a top twenty wrestler in the nation? Mark this one no less than 3 points for Iowa State. 

Cullen Schriever Vs Ramazan Attasauov
133 lbs 

There comes a time in every Hawkeye's career where he has to step it up and be the hero for his team. That time is now for Cullen Schriever. On paper, this is another victory for the Cyclones. The Cardinal and Gold are expected to win this match. With Lee out & the situation with Woods still up in the air, Iowa is gonna have to win matches like these. Looking at it from Iowa State's perspective, same thing. A must win match. 

Drew Bennett OR Real Woods Vs Casey Swiderski
141 lbs  

If it is at all possible, Iowa needs to send Real Woods out on the mat Vs Casey Swiderski. A lot can happen in wrestling & trust me, I know all about parity but comparatively speaking, against Bennett, I think Swiderski is very, very capable of getting the major. Matter of fact, even if they do send Woods out on the mat, I'm still not counting Swiderski out of this match. Woods would certainly be favored but Swiderski is young, hungry and fearless. In a match of this magnitude, with this much on the line? Yeah, the Hawks are gonna want Woods out there. 

Max Murin Vs Paniro Johnson 
149 lbs 

How many times have you read me say, "Max Murin is one of the best yet to All American in the country?"  Are you sick of me saying it? Well, gal darn it! It's frickin' true! He is. Matter of fact, he's good enough to be an NCAA finalist this season! That is the T-R-U-T-H.  But to quote Tom Brands, you only deserve what you earn. Many people are wondering the truth potential of Paniro Johnson. He did after all knock off Austin Gomez of Wisconsin, the guy who knocked off three time NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. There is so much riding on the line for each of these outstanding young men. For Murin it's his opportunity to say, I'm here, I'm for real, take me seriously. For Johnson, it's Gomez was no fluke, I'm as good as many of you already think I am.  Could easily be the match of the dual. 

Cobe Siebrecht Vs Jason Kraisser 
157 lbs 

This could potentially be a spot where Iowa gives themselves some breathing room. Cole Siebrecht is riding on a high after a huge upset against two time EIWA finalist Anthony Artalona of Pennsylvania.  With Lee out and potentially Woods also out there are two all but guaranteed victories for the Cyclones. They're favored at 141& 149 at this point is a tossup.  If we start at 125 lbs, there's a real possibility that by the time we get to 157, it could be all Cyclones. That's a ton of pressure on Siebrecht's shoulders. It'd be up to him to swing the momentum in the opposite direction. Get a major for the Hawks or at least the victory. Krassier being a senior who hasn't and most likely won't have a lot of highlights by the time his collegiate career is said and done, will be looking for the upset. What a "had to be their" moment that would make to one day tell his grandkids. 

Patrick Kennedy Vs David Carr
165 lbs 

Exactly how good is Patrick Kennedy? We're gonna find out, aren't we? Do I think he can keep this to a decision with David Carr? In this environment, with this atmosphere, under these conditions? Yes, I do. I think Carr is too good, too prepared and too smart to be upset, but I do think Kennedy can keep this at a decision. It's vital for Iowa that he does. It's vital for Iowa State that he does not. 

Nelson Brands Vs Julien Broderson
174 lbs 

Nelson Brands entire career thus far for the Hawkeyes has been up and down, up and down. He's looked like a million bucks at times and at other times he's looked like the best buck 49 buffet in town, Clark.  This will be a situation where he needs to be the prior.  On paper, this match favors the Hawks, but Broderson is far, far from a pushover. This is NOT a match to overlook. Not an egg to count before it is hatched. Iowa needs the Nelson Brands who went out and whipped Taylor Venz of Nebraska 13-5 to show up. Iowa State needs the Broderson who once knocked off Anthony Montalvo of Arizona State to show up. For the sake of both teams, both need to be at their best. 

Abe Assad Vs Marcus Coleman
184 lbs 

Much like at 149 lbs, got a lot riding on this match from both an individual standpoint and from a team standpoint. You got one guy, Marcus Coleman who has already been an All American and another guy, Abe Assad who is looking to become an All American. This is where being held at Carver Hawkeye Arena becomes such an important part of this dual. When you got 15,000+ cheering you on, that gives you an extra boost of energy. You can be the greatest sportsman that ever lived & show tremendous class, but if you're representing the opposing team, you might as well be in the Roman Coliseum because all the black & gold faithful wanna see is you get fed to the lions. That can be an extremely intimidating and have an adverse effect on your wrestling. Mental edge is so important in a matchup like this. It'll be a challenge to Coleman to overcome. A great win for either regardless of who wins this classic. 

Jacob Warner Vs Yonger Bastida
197 lbs 

There are a lot of people doubting Jacob Warner right now. A loss to Rocky Elam of Missouri at the NWCA All Star Classic & barely holding on in an 11-10 win after getting turned twice by Cole Urbas of Pennsylvania. Some are even going as far as calling his trip to the NCAA finals last season a fluke. Here's the thing that rings true about wrestling critics. If they feel they are right, which they will if Yonger Bastida wins this match up, they're only going to grow louder. Bastida upset Warner last season 4-2 & if he beats the Hawkeye again, the snakes of opprobrium will come crawling. Yet if he pulls off a win against the future Cuban World/Olympic representative, they'll crawl back silently into the dark, dirty hole they came from.  197 is pretty wide open this year. I think most of us can agree to that. Warner needs this win bad. Hell, in this dual, Iowa needs this win bad. Bastida himself an NCAA title contender, he needs this win bad. So does Iowa State. 

Tony Cassioppi Vs Sam Schuyler 
HWT 

 If we start at 125 lbs and end the dual at HWT, from Iowa's perspective Tony Cassioppi will need to show Sam Schuyler that there is the top 4 at HWT and then there is everybody else. It may very well be that Iowa NEEDS a major or better in this situation & it'll be up to Cassioppi to deliver it. From Iowa State's perspective, Sam Schuyler has already shown us that he's made some tremendous improvements. Look no further than a recent upset over Trent Hillger of Wisconsin for proof of that. Keeping the Hawkeye to a decision here could very well be the difference between victory and defeat for the team. 

==

I honestly do feel that each point counts here. I don't see this being a blow out.  Getting the major or avoiding the major is going to be so vital in a dual like this. If anyone, anywhere can pull off a fall that may spell the end for the other team. 

  

We gotta get these two on the mat! 

Enjoy the dual! 

2022 CKLV HWT Preview

 

This is going to look different than my 2022 CKLV Previews for 125 through 184. I was NOT expecting preseeds to come out as early as what they did. I'm used to night before, give me no time to sit down, study them, think them over....So it was a pleasant surprise to see them this morning.  These types of previews usually take me about and hour a piece to write, so it's not realistic that I was going to try and write these all up two days before the event. However, I still hadn't written up 197 or HWT yet, hence why they reflect the actual seeds.  

So for 197 & HWT, Picture Guide ='s 

Ranking & Name 
School Name
CKLV Finish last season
WHAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY SEEDED 

While some of the top dawgs are not a part of this tournament (speaking specifically to Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet & Iowa's Tony Cassioppi) many of our nation's top HWTs will be a part of this tournament.  As it is a real possibility that Gable Steveson of Minnesota will not be returning second semester, one of the #1 questions is, who will be the new king in town? 

Many feel that it'll be NCAA runner-up Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State who is the top seed here. There is great reason to think that he'll win CKLV & remain at number one.  He seems to never stop improving and he has an arsenal of upperbody attacks that seem unstoppable.  

Yet, let's not count out *2 Mason Parris of Michigan. The Wolverine has proven that he can go toe-to-toe with the Sun Devil before & it'll once again be a war if these two meet in the finals.  Schultz edged Parris 6-5, the last time they met. 

Will either Schultz or Parris have trouble in their routes to the finals? 

*3 Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard looks like he could potentially pose challenge. He's not near as fancy or flashy on the mat as his two adversaries. Often he's comfortable winning matches by close scores. Even times by a single point.  Lucas Davison of Northwestern, Tate Orndorff of Ohio State, Owen Trephan of North Carolina State & Zachary Knighton-Ward of Hofstra. A point or two ahead was good enough for the Crimson.  Could this possibly come back to bite him in the rear? 10-0 or 1-0, if guys can't score on you, guys can't score on you. 

*4 Lucas Davison of Northwestern gives me a gut feeling that he could be a surprise this tournament. Like a Tasmania Devil or a Honey Badger, I am perplexed by his strength. How can someone who looks that much smaller than his opponents be that freakin strong?  It's quite deceptive but he is.  He stuck Orndorff in 46 seconds & in their other meeting controlled a 10-5 decision. He also owns a 3:28 fall over Nevills. He's hung in their with Parris in 7-2 & 8-5 matches. If he's improved as much from 21'-22' to 22'-23' as he did from 20'-21' to 21'-22', look out! 

*5 Orndorff is a guy that looks like he's improved a lot too. I mentioned this in a article earlier that he looks leaner and meaner than ever. He already owns a 9-5 victory over Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force, plus wins over ZKV, Tyrell Gordon of Northern Iowa, Nevills and Hunter Catka of Virginia Tech. 

*6 Hendrickson has had his ups and downs, but when he's on, he's hard to beat. A 1:33 fall over Fernandes, he's both pinned and majored Nevills, with a major over Catka & wins over Godon and Griess. 

*7 Lewis Fernandes among dominating victories over ZKW, Grady Griess of Navy & Gordon, also owns a 5:22 fall over Slavikouski.  It wouldn't surprise me at all to see him much higher than his predicted 7th. 

*8 Nevills for what it's worth. although it was seasons ago, has a 5-2 victory over Schultz & a 5-1 victory over Orndorff. 

*9 Griess has thus far done an outstanding job of climbing up the rankings. I believe finding his way onto the award stand here would get him even higher on that ladder. 

*10 Trephan is very capable of out wrestling his seed. He owns a 12-4 major decision over Nevills. 

*11 ZKW owns a 4-2 victory over Griess & ironically enough *12 Gordon owns a 4-2 victory over ZKW. 

As to the rest of the HWT CKLV hopefuls? 

Edinboro's Jon Spaulding will be a threat to a top 12 performance. A win 4-3 win over ZKW suggest that, maybe even more. He's a big, thick, solid HWT. The type with a low center of gravity that can be difficult to score on. 

Moving up to HWT seems thus far to be the best thing that's ever happened to Oregon State's JJ Dixon. He never did wrestler like a 197'er and it's showing that he's much better suited for HWT. Does that mean he can hang with some of the best big guys? We'll see this weekend. 

I honestly wonder if Hunter Catka of Virginia Tech will even be at this tournament. While preseeds came out before I began writing this preview, the actual brackets have not.  A part of me is thinking, "There's no way Hunter Catka wouldn't be a top 12 seed."  Yet he other part of me wonders with all of the parity, the odd results of head to head matchups, if maybe for one reason or another he IS going to be in this tournament, he simply missed the cut of being seeded. Either way, he IS a threat to a top 12 finish. Hell, he's a threat to a top 8 finish.  He owns a 5-3 decision over Nevills. 

Lastly, Jayden Woodruff of Utah Valley hasn't faced much competition, but he's faced enough to have been R12 here last season & earn a top 33 ranking. That speaks for itself. 

2022 CKLV 197 lbs Preview

 

This is going to look different than my 2022 CKLV Previews for 125 through 184. I was NOT expecting preseeds to come out as early as what they did. I'm used to night before, give me no time to sit down, study them, think them over....So it was a pleasant surprise to see them this morning.  These types of previews usually take me about and hour a piece to write, so it's not realistic that I was going to try and write these all up two days before the event. However, I still hadn't written up 197 or HWT yet, hence why they reflect the actual seeds.  

So for 197 & HWT, Picture Guide ='s 

Ranking & Name 
School Name
CKLV Finish last season
WHAT THEY ARE ACTUALLY SEEDED 

NOTE -  I'm going to take it that Bernie Truax of Cal Poly is not competing this tournament. There's no way that you'd come in ranked #5 in the nation, a two time NCAA DI All American & not be seeded. They just wouldn't do that even if you were new to the weight class.  It's also obvious that Stephen Buchanan of Wyoming last year's CKLV champ is missing from the bracket. Not surprising considering that news came out recently that he is in the transfer portal and will be looking for a new home. What is surprising as well as depressing is that Thomas Penola of Purdue is not listed in the preseeds. This has to mean he's not competing. This really disappoints me. I think Penola who was 3rd last season could have really opened up some eyes this tournament. I consider him a would have been title contender. He has wins over Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State & Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State.  Lastly also surprised to see no Jacob Cardenas of Cornell. Surely if he were wrestling here, he'd be seeded right?  He's ranked #22 & he has victories over Jake Koser of Navy, Evan Bockman of Utah Valley and Andy Smith of Virginia Tech. 


Now for some thoughts.... 

I'm perfectly cool with Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State being the *1 seed. He has the highest ranking & with all the parity, it makes sense. He owns a win over Hoffman 6-1. 

*2 Isaac Trumble North Carolina State is most certainly going to give Sloan a run for his money although he'll have his work cut out for him himself if seeds hold with *3 Hoffman.  I've been saying throughout these previews that it is a very real possibility that someone could finish better at the NCAA's than what they do here. Hoffman is living, walking, breathing proof as he finished R12 here last season, and then earned 6th place All American honors. Among his victories, a 4-3 decision of Sloan. 

*4 Kordell Norfleet of Arizona State would be doing himself a huge favor if he were to come in here and win this tournament. The hopeful to become the PAC-12's first & only five time conference champion has yet to earn All American honors in his illustrious career. A title here would propel him up in the rankings, thus helping him to earn a valuable high seed at the NCAA's. With this competition, much easier said than done. 

*5 Tanner Harvey of American is someone I am extraordinarily impressed with. He's been out the past two seasons with injuries but watching him compete thus far this year, you'd never know it. He's 9-1 so far, with an impressive 8-4 victory over Evan Bockman of Utah Valley. 

I don't agree with *6 Silias Allred & *7 Trey Rogers of Hofstra being ahead of *8 Bockman. Both Allred and Bockman have victories over Jake Koser of Navy.  Personally I would have went with Bockman at *6, Silias at *7 & Rogers at *8.  Another variable to factor in here, Bockman was 8th here last year + he took Hoffman to a 6-4 s.v. decision. 

*9 Andy Smith of Virginia Tech, always tough hasn't faced much of the competition here, a 4-1 loss to Hoffman.    

*10 is exactly where Koser belongs, it's where I would have put him too. 

Now, to those that weren't seeded....

Tyler Bagoly of Clarion could very well pose a problem to anyone he steps onto the mat with. I spoke of Penola earlier & Bagoly owns a first period 1:07 fall against the Boilermaker.   Another unseeded guy to watch out for here is Cody Mulligan of Edinboro. 

2022 CKLV 184 lbs Preview

 NOTE - 125 though 184 were written before preseeds came out, so I did my best to guess what they might be.  197 & HWT will actually feature what the seeds ACTUALLY are.  I'm surprised we got to see these TWO days in advance. Usually we're only given the day before & usually they come out in the evening. Not near enough time to write-up 10 previews.  

Five All Americans, 14 ranked wrestlers including 7 of the top 10. Four returning place-winners in all, including last year's champion and last year's 3rd place finisher. 184 lbs is stacked. 

When I look at a guy like Northern Iowa's Parker Keckeisen, I am reminded of wrestlers of yesteryear like Cory Cooperman of Lehigh. A great wrestler who would have otherwise won a national title had it not been for Nate Gallick of Iowa State & Teyon Ware of Oklahoma. While Cooperman could not only beat, but often annihilate most of his other competition, he could never figure out Gallick or Ware. Aaron Brooks of Penn State, is thus far to Keckeisen what Gallick & Ware were to Cooperman. In partial that's why this tournament is so vital to Keckeisen.  If he can come in here and win this tournament, that'll be huge on down the road when it comes time to do seedings for the NCAA's.  He wants to be on the opposite side of the bracket of Brooks. Much easier said than done when you take a gander at who all the Panther has to go through in order to be named CKLV champ. 

*2 here I think is obviously North Carolina State's Trent Hidlay. While he hasn't faced much of the compeition in this bracket yet, he did take it to Cornell's Jonathan Loew 20-9. 

*3 I give to last year's champion Kaleb Romero of Ohio State. Not only did he win this tournament last season, owns victories over both Matt Finesilver of Michigan & Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech. 

*4 going with Trey Munoz Oregon State, who at this point I would call a sleeper. I don't think many are thinking he can win this tournament, but I'm thinking he can. He would definitely have to pull off two huge wins in a row to pull it off, but like father, like son, it's a possibility. 

*5 I give to one of collegiate wrestling's most resilient wrestlers, Loew. This guy's ability to shake off a bad loss, put his nose to the grind and make a comeback is second to absolutely no one. Last year, he came in here & was tech'd by Taylor Venz of Nebraska in the semi-finals. He came right back through the consolations winning two hard fought battles at to finish 3rd.  He turned around and did the same thing at the NCAA's. Lost 12-2 to Munoz & then got right back to work to earn All American honors. You can't shake this guy's belief in himself. In a tournament like this one, you need that type of relentlessness.  In two matches with Keckeisen, he gave the Panther a 7-6 scare. 

Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech is who I'd give *6.  Here's a guy that seems to me like he has a hibernating bear inside of him dying to wake up. I'm so ready for him to explode one of these days and have an outstanding showing, and I'm often left wondering why he's not. He owns a 7-2 victory over Loew & in his other match with him, took him into sudden victory before dropping a 7-5 decision. He also took Keckeisen into sudden victory, dropping a 4-2 decision. 

*7 Matt Finesilver of Michigan & *8 Adam Kemp of Cal Poly are pretty much in the same boat. This is there first year at 184 lbs. Finesilver has had a little over half a dozen matches, whereas Kemp has yet to wrestle a match.  It's a chance for both of them to show what they're made of in this weight class.  Kemp was 6th here at 174 last season. 

You can probably already tell by now that I don't agree with David Key's #29 ranking. I think he deserves to be ranked much higher than that & I think he's being overlooked.  I'm sure I'll here some disagreements, but I stand by my decision to put him at *9. He was one match shy of a medal here last season & he also stuck Arizona State's Anthony Montalvo, who I put at *10 in 38 seconds. In two matches with Loew, he's taken the Big Red to 7-4 & 3-2 decisions. He's also wrestled Hidlay to a 3-2 decision. 

*11 going with Jacob Armstrong of Utah Valley.  He was 8th here last season and for the record does own a victory over Key.  He took Keckeisen to a 5-3 match.  

*12 going with Will Feldkamp of Clarion, a gritty wrestler always ready for battle. 

As to the others? 

It's simply a matter of other wrestlers who are bound to be tough. Wrestlers who will give it Hell in each match, who are capable of pulling off an upset & ending up top 12 or maybe even top 8 themselves. Really not a whole lot to say about them individually although I will say the one that fascinates me most of the bunch is Jack Jessen of Northwestern. His 4-20 record between 20'-21' & 21'-22' has to be among the least intimidating of stats. Heck this year he's 2-3.  Yet I tell you looks can often be deceiving. He's probably the last wrestler in all of CKLV that anyone expects anything out of, but keep in mind that his collegiate career thus far does own a 9-5 victory over Loew. There are darkhorse place-winners & then there are how in the "Hell did you do that charcoal colts." That's what Jessen is. 

2022 CKLV 174 lbs Preview

 

NOTE - 125 though 184 were written before preseeds came out, so I did my best to guess what they might be.  197 & HWT will actually feature what the seeds ACTUALLY are.  I'm surprised we got to see these TWO days in advance. Usually we're only given the day before & usually they come out in the evening. Not near enough time to write-up 10 previews.  

Now here is one tough weight class. 14 ranked wrestlers, 5 of which are in the top 10. Last year's champion, runner-up, 3rd place finisher, 4th place finisher, 5th place finisher & 7th place finisher all return, PLUS a 6th place finisher from 165 lbs. There will be wrestlers here that finish better at the NCAA's than what they will here. Here in lies your testimony as to why so many call CKLV the toughest of all the in-season tournaments. 

Picture Guide = 
Ranking & Name
School Name
Previous CKLV Finishes 
What I would Seed 

A National champion in 2019 & an NCAA runner-up this past season, Virginia Tech's Mekhi Lewis in my opinion deserves the *1 spot here. Make no mistake about it though, he'll more than be challenged.  Ethan Smith of Ohio State recently gave him a 3-2 match & the last time he met up with Cornell's Chris Foca he needed a tiebreaker to beat the Big Red 3-1. Even Lance Runyon of Northern Iowa gave him a decent 8-5 match. 

*2 I give to last year's champion Mikey Labriola of Nebraska. In three meetings with Smith, he's won two hard fought matches by scores of 9-5 & 7-5 s.v. Smith won the other one 4-2 s.v.  If seeds go as I predict & if seeds hold, it should be a great semi-final. 

I give Foca the nod above Demetrius Romero of Utah Valley, as Foca was 3rd here last season & he has that close match with Lewis. Some may have switched them around or even put Romero at *3 & sorted it out between Smith & Foca for *4 & *5. Romero gave Labriola a great match the last time the two met, dropping a tight 5-4 decision. Against Lewis, he dropped a 9-4 decision. 

*6 going with Philip Conigliaro of Harvard. He's new to the 174 lbs weight class, so a bit of this is based on faith. 6th here last year at 165 lbs, I'm banking on him wrestling as well 9 lbs up as he did 9 lbs down. 

*7, *8 & *9  I based on a few different factors. Rankings for one as Cade Devos of South Dakota State is #13, Lance Runyon of Northern Iowa is #14 & Hayden Hastings of Wyoming is #15.  It's also noted that Devos is 2-0 overall against Hastings with 7-4 & 5-2 victories. Runyon also has a victory over Hastings by a 5-1 decision.  Ironically enough though, out of the three Hastings is who interest me the most. He seems to always be up for big matchups.  He took Foca to a 9-7 decision & while Labriola whipped him once 10-2, he's also wrestled the Cornhusker to 14-11 & 5-3 decisions. Plus he gave Romero a 5-3 match. 

*10 going with Troy Fisher of Northwestern who was 5th here last season.  A lower ranking & a loss to DeVos is why he's not higher. 

*11 Sam Wolf of Air Force who has a 3-1 victory over Jared McGill of Edinboro who I put at *12. 

And now for the monkey wrenches....

Thus far in his collegiate career Cael Valencia of Arizona State has not lived up to the legacy of brothers Zahid and Anthony.  Eventually he will, and it'll be without warning. At some point be it sooner or later he'll suddenly realize, "wait, I'm a Valencia" & magically start wrestling very well. We've seen glimpses of it. He does after all own a 3-2 victory over Hastings. Could CKLV 2022 be his moment of turn-around? 

Albert Urias of Cal State Bakersfield is another tough wrestler to watch out for.  He has many notable victories in his career thus far, one of which is an 8-6 s.v. over Wolf. 

Here's the guy to really watch out for this tournament, Aaron Olmos of Oregon State. I've been waiting for him to have a breakout performance & really show what he's capable of & I think this could be the place he does it. He was one match shy of placing here last season. A 6-4 victory over Urias, he's taken Foca to a 2-1 decision. 

Going out on a limb here, maybe even to the twig but I'm dying to see that monumental moment happen for the Sharks of LIU. If anyone is gonna do it, I think the answer is Blake Bahna. For what it is or isn't worth, he recently stuck Valencia in the first period. 

Sammy Starr of Navy is always tough. Sal Perrine of Ohio & Joe Walker of Michigan both ranked in the top 33, ones to look out for.  

Last but not least is Lennox Wolax of Columbia who recently proved to the wrestling world just how susceptible those at the top are to upset. He defeated Smith 8-6 in a recent dual. 

Tournaments like these, with brackets like these are what makes a guy like me love this sport!! 

2022 CKLV 165 lbs Preview

 

Here's a weight class where I see an endless number of possibilities. I think you can objectively seed this one way, but it could turn out completely different. I wouldn't necessarily say there's a ton of parity, but you do have an assortment of talent that has wrestled one another in some very close matches. 

As to Nebraska, they could go with Jagger Condomitti or Bubba Wilson. I think based on results, the better pick here is Wilson and I'm going to treat it as if the Huskers are going to go with Wilson. If they end up going with Condomitti instead, well, my mistake. It'd be nice if we'd get this kind of information far more in advance than what we do.  

Once again the Picture guide...

Ranking & Name
School Name
Past CKLV placings 
What I would seed

We're talking 15 ranked wrestlers, six returning place-winners.  You'll see in a hurry with how I would seed this bracket that in many cases I am NOT feeling the current rankings. 

Two time All American Cam Amine of Michigan is who I would put at *1, although I would say he is most certainly not a shoe-in. He's had some very close matches with many of those in this bracket & he's also taken some losses. 5th here a year ago, all things considered he has earned the top seed, but holding it is a whole other story. 

*2 I give to Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. Against Amine he is 1-1.  A 3-2 victory Vs a 3-1 loss.  3rd here last season, he owns victories over Josh Ogunsanya of Columbia, Bubba Wilson of Nebraska and Connor Brady of Virginia Tech. Of most important note, he's 3-0 against Julian Ramirez of Cornell with 4-3, 5-2 & 15-7 victories. 

I'm taking  14-3 & 13-5 major decisions over a 6-4 decision in putting Ramirez at *3 & Ogunsanya at *4. Ramirez also owns a 9-6 victory over Amine (as he was also pinned by him in 2:47).  Ogunsanya has wins over both Wilson & Brady. 

Enrique Munguia of Kent State was only 11-8 last season, but thus far this year he's already 14-1. Talk about a turn around. He majored Will Formato of Applachian State, as he has wins over Val Park of Navy, Jordan Slivka of Ohio & Wilson. He's who I put at *5. 

Wilson may not be ranked at the moment & you might not agree with me putting him as high as *6, but I'll defend my position & I'll defend it well. He was 8th here last season, plus he owns a 5-3 victory over Amine.  In two other matches with Amine, he's kept it very close with the Wolverine in 3-1 & 5-3 losses. 

Brady with wins over Formato & Tony Negron of Arizona State is who'd put at *7. He took Ogunsanya into sudden victory

Cole Moody of Wyoming is 1-1 with Tanner Cook of South Dakota State. The Cowboy owns a 13-3 major decision as the Jackrabbit owns a 12-10 decision. I know what the rankings say, but I also know that both also own victories over Austin Yant of Northern Iowa. Cook pinned Yant in 6:11 & Moody defeated him 6-3. It's hard to overlook head to head results like that.  Hence why I've put Moody *8, Cook *9 & Yant *10. 

*11 I give to Negron. I'm anxious to see him against the competition here, but he's only had a total of 5 matches at 165 thus far & I feel *11 is very fair until he proves himself better. (Which is a very likely possibility). 

Figuring in an 11-2 loss to Yant, I put Formato at *12. 

There are my seeds and there is my reasoning.  There are other dangers in this bracket as well. 

Legend Lamer of Cal Poly proved himself to be an All American threat at 149 lbs, but now we're up 16 lbs of muscle & he has yet to make his mark at his new weight class. This is as good of a place as any.  

Jordan Slivka of Ohio, similar story to Lamer. He did quite well at 157 with some notable wins, but he took has yet to make his mark at 165. Again, if you're gonna do it, CKLV is a place to do it. 

Both Matt Olguin of Oregon State & Joshua Kim of Harvard are two others I'd watch out for.  Then there is Val Park of Navy, who finished one match shy of a medal here last season. 

JT#1's Notes, Thoughts & Observations for Week 5 of the 2022-2023 Wrestling Season

 Well, first off I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know I did and I certainly hope that you did too. It was a short week of collegiate wrestling but still an exciting one nonetheless. 

What a great event the NWCA All-Star Classic was. Marquee matches that delivered some great wrestling action. Why this event didn't take place in front of an audience is something I'll never understand. It's one of the top wrestling extravaganzas of the season. This should be taking place in front of thousands if not 10's of thousands of fans. That aside, it was quite revealing. 

Lucas Byrd of Illinois  3-2 over Michael McGee of Arizona State is further reminder to just how loaded the 133 lbs weight class is this year. While Roman Bravo Young of Penn State & Daton Fix of Oklahoma State seem be the permanent fixtures at the top with Vitali Arujau of Cornell currently looking for any kinks in the armor, the rest of the spots will be determined in an all our war. 

Northern Colorado's Andrew Alirez's 4-2 victory over Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh helps to illustrate how wide open 141 lbs is this season. As the season progresses it'll prove itself to be one of the hardest weight classes to predict. 

I'm curious how some fans are concluding that Jacob Warner of Iowa couldn't beat Rocky Elam or how he was severely outwrestled by Elam.  A sudden victory match to me indicates that the match could have gone either way & Elam happened to get the final takedown. That's all. As loaded at 197 lbs is this year & as much parity and upsets seem to happen, anything is possible. However to start having doubts about Warner because of this particular match is quite laughable. He's made the award stand three times already. It's likely he will again.  And yes, we'll take Vs Penn here in just a moment....


David Carr of Iowa State Vs Quincy Monday of Princeton was a treat for various reasons. Was hoping for a bit more scoring between the two, but when so much is on the line, cautiousness cannot be avoided.  To know their fathers were duking it out years ago & now here they are doing the same thing. What a cool happening for the sport of wrestling. 

Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet has finally figured out Iowa's Tony Cassioppi. I don't know what Cael Sanderson is doing in Happy Valley, but whatever it is, it seems to almost always work. He gets his guys to improve.  I'm anxious to see Kerkvliet against Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz. That'll be fun. 

That Austin Gomez of Wisconsin is something else isn't he? That loss to Paniro Johnson of Iowa State was probably the best thing that ever happened to him. It woke up the warrior inside of him & he's been a burning inferno ever since. A hard fought 10-9 victory over Ohio State's Sammy Sasso, where he just lit the Buckeye up in the third period. 

Carter Starocci of Penn State remains one step ahead of Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech. In most circumstances, I would like to think Lewis may be closing the gap, but as I said before, things are different at Penn State. Cael Sanderson has something going on up there that is different from everywhere else. I'd like to see a little more back and forth between the two, but at this point it seems Starocci has Lewis' #. 

Lastly I'll say I enjoyed the women's wrestling. In it's infancy, I'm still not familiar with all of our outstanding young female wrestlers.  I'm enjoying learning about them and their credentials, accomplishments and backgrounds. 

Quakers Prove They Belong On Mat With Hawkeyes 

Granted Iowa was missing some starters, but it doesn't change the fact that Pennsylvania went out and competed hard against the black & gold. Cole Urbas put up an excellent fight against NCAA runner-up Jacob Warner. I wrote in my preview that Warner should be leery of Urbas' long arms & his knowledge of how to use them to his advantage. Two turns to come up short in an 11-10 match up. Michael Colaiocco looked extremely sharp against Cullen Schreiver in a 6-0 decision. Some may disagree with me, but I think he would've faired about the same against Brody Teske.  I still say by year's end it could very well be Schriever who is the starter for Iowa.  Doug Zapf put up a great fight against Max Murin in a battle of two of the best seniors yet to AA.  

All in all, if we're being truthful and honest, had it not been for an error on Anthony Artalona's part, this dual would have ended 20-15 instead of 26-11. Take nothing away from Cole Seibrecht's 4:02 fall. You earn a fall, you deserve the recognition, but Artalona was on his way to a major.  

Last thoughts on this dual is that I was surprised but happy to see Nelson Brands back. I was told by one Iowa fan that he would be at least another month. Another Iowa fan told me that we may not see him back at all this season.  Not only was he back, but he looked really good. Nick Incontrera is no pushover & Brands looked smooth & solid in a 5-1 decision. 

===

That's it for week 5.  I could say more as always but with as much as we got going on in Week 6, I'm trying to prepare for that.  Once again, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope it was a rewarding holiday for you. 

2022 CKLV 157 lbs Preview

 

157 lbs is equally as interesting as are the first four weights I've previewed for CKLV, but for completely different reasons.  Here I feel those I have seeded will indeed most likely be those who end up finishing in the top 12. Yet there are an assortment of unranked, unknows at this weight dying to pull off some upsets and make a name for themselves. Strange things have happened in Vegas before and they're bound to again. 

Picture Guide = 
Ranking & Name
School Name
Previous CKLV finishes
What I would Seed

I think any which way you slice at at this point in the season you have to go with Will Lewan of Michigan as the *1 seed. A returning All American, he was 4th here last season & he not only has a win over Kendall Coleman of Purdue, he also owns two victories over Peyton Robb of Nebraska. 

Robb shared the 5th/6th place spot here last season with Coleman in a double medical forfeit. When the two have actually wrestled, Robb has came out on top 8-0 & 6-4 sudden victory to Coleman's 3-2 win.  As to other criteria, Robb owns both a 4:36 fall as well as a 8-2 decision over Ed Scott of North Carolina State & he nearly majored Derek Holschlag of Northern Iowa 10-3. 

With ranking, NCAA finish & two victories over Scott, I give Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian the *3 seed. 

You may disagree with me putting Jacob Wright of Wyoming at *4, but this is where something Britt "Seton Hall Pirate" Mallinsky said about me rings absolutely true. There's more to NCAA DI wrestling than the last  three days of it in March. Wright hasn't been able to put together the post season he's capable of yet, but there's six months worth of wrestling to examine when determining what seed to give him. Let's look at a couple of facts.  In an argument against me, Coleman who I seed *5, has a 7-5 head to head victory over Wright & he is ranked higher.  However, Wright was 3rd here last season, he owns a 4-3 victory over Robb & most notable a 3-2 victory over Lewan.  It all depends on what you feel holds more water.  Regardless of our subjective views, I'll give you an objective truth.  Wright is one of the most underrated, overlooked and I don't know if I'd say disrespected, but I'll definitely go with not near respected enough wrestlers in the nation. He's a title contender here at CKLV, make no mistake about it. 

As to seed *6, I'll say this about Ed Scott of North Carolina State. It's been a slower start to 22'-23' than what it was in 21'-22'. He started off with such a bang last season & he has yet to find the spark to light his fire. Once he does, it could very well spell disaster for anyone he steps on the mat with.  The headlock of his is absolutely n to the a to the s to the t to the y.  He can hit it without notice and everyone is susceptible to it. 

*7 I give to Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern who has looked exceptionally good thus far this season. It's obvious he's made some vast improvements over the summer & while some big wins have done wonders for his confidence, placing top 8 here would do even more. Thus far he owns a 5-3 sudden victory over Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State who I would personally give the *8 seed.  The young Buckeye has already proven he's a top 20 wrestler, this is his chance to prove he's even better. 

8th here last season, I give Navy's Andrew Cerniglia the *8 seed.  He's wrestled Lewan well, a 5-3 loss & he's very capable of knocking off those ranked above him. 

Derek Holschalg of Northern Iowa may be ranked a few spaces above Colton Yapoujian of Cornell, but it is Yapoujian who owns a 2-1 head to head decision over Holschlag hence the *10 & *11 seeds as I'd give them out.  May I also point out that Yapoujian could very well be a surprise this tournament.  Against Coleman he took the Boilermaker into sudden victory before dropping a 3-1 decision. 

Lastly, I think *12 while it can certainly be debated goes to Peyten Kellar of Ohio. The young Bobcat has thus far had himself a pretty good season against some decent competition & now he gets to test himself against some even better competition. 

NOW, here comes the real question....Are there any wrestlers in this bracket that could come in here, pull off some huge upsets and put there names on the map?  Yes, in fact there are a lot of them.

Are any of these guys getting past the 12 already mentioned above? It'd be a huge upset, but I'll be if all eight of these guys ain't capable of pulling them off. 

Nick Delp of Bucknell is always tough. He can be game when he wants to be. 

Cal Poly's Luka Wick is still currently in the shadow of three time All American brother Evan & having an outstanding performance here would certainly get out him out of it. The wrestling world can be brutal within its depiction & right now many seem him as "Evan's little brother." He comes in here & kicks some gluteus maximus, now he's LUKA. 

Health hasn't been kind to Trevor Elfvin of Clarion, but he's made a comeback & if that comeback is 100%, I wouldn't count him out. 

Cesar Alvan of Columbia is a PAN-AMERICAN bronze medalist. If you're good enough to take home bronze from the PAN-AMERICAN's, then you're good enough to pull off an upset or two. 

As a guy who loves make predictions and talking about what ifs and plausible scenarios in collegiate wrestling, a guy like Luke Kemerer of Edinboro wants to make you pull the hair straight out of your head. The second you forget about this guy or give up on him, WHAMMO he's right back in the fold. I know good and well that if I left him off of this preview, it'd come back to haunt me. Don't include his name in the list, the top headline of day one at CKLV will read, "Kemerer with a huge upset!!"  He's just one of those guys you never know what to expect.  He owns a 3-2 victory over Scott. 

I'm gonna say the same thing for Trevor Tarsi of Harvard that I say for Nick Palumbo of Sacred Heart. Both of these guys are NCAA qualification material. In fact, Palumbo already has an NCAA qualification.  Either one of these guys gets hot, they could find themselves in the quarters, the R12 match or even better. 

Lastly is Selwyn Porter of the Citadel. I don't know what it is about the Bulldogs, but I'll be if "locked potential" hasn't and still does describe so many of them.  I said this about Dazjon Casto who is now at Pittsburgh for years. Guy has the talent and the ability, he simply has to let loose and let it out.  Does that mean I think he can come in here and beat absolutely anyone? No, but it does mean that I think he's better than the current unranked status he's at now. He IS a top 33 wrestler & here at CKLV he has the opportunity to prove it. 

2022 CKLV 149 lbs Preview

 

Here's where things are going to get really interesting. 149 lbs is already an insane weight.  Paniro Johnson of Iowa State upsetting Austin Gomez of Wisconsin & then Gomez upsetting Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. We've already seen a ton of craziness & trust me, CKLV is going to take it to a whole new level. 

Picture Guide = 
Ranking & Name
School Name
Previous CKLV Finishes 
What I would Seed 

It's surreal to think that Diakomihalis is entering CKLV with a losing record, but nevertheless the returning champ is still ranked #1 in the country & is the favorite to once again win a title.  It'll be a challenge though. From the quarters on through, he'll have to earn his way back to the top of the podium.  There are a lot of guys here that feel if Gomez can do it, they can too. Diakomihalis has a huge target painted on his back & some of the sharpest darts in collegiate wrestling looking to hit it with a bullseye. 

*2 Ohio State's Sammy Sasso was a runner-up here to Diakomihalis last season.  He's lost to the Big Red by similar scores (6-3 & 6-2) twice thus far as he looks to improve his performance against him.  He too will be challenged from the quarters on through. Maybe even more so as he's already suffered an upset this season & against many of these opponents he's had some very close matches. 

I give *3 to Jonathan Millner of Appalachian State. Even though he's 1-2 Vs Arizona State's Kyle Parco, he did win their most recent meeting & he's currently ranked one spot higher.  In regards to Sasso, he gave the Buckeye a very close 5-4 match.  Parco himself has also given Sasso some scares. A 5-1 tiebreaker, he also gave him a wild 11-10 contest. 

*5 going with Yahya Thomas of Northwestern.  A wrestler who at times looks as if he can beat absolutely anyone.  He was 4th here a year ago as he's taken Sasso to both a 6-4 as well a a 5-4 tiebreaker. 

I give *6 to Dom Demas of Cal Poly, who I have to conclude is one of the wrestlers I am most excited to see this tournament.  An All American in 2019 with an overall varsity record of 82-19, speaking specifically to collegiate wrestling, he fell from grace over the past couple of seasons. He's kinda been forgotten about and looked over by many. Now he's at a new school, seems to be much happier and it'll be fun to see how that translates on the mat.  For record, the last he met with Diakomihalis, it was a 5-1 decision for the Big Red. 

I feel a lot of stock is being put into Caleb Henson's recent 5-3 upset over Sasso, hence why he has a pretty respectable ranking & why I gave him the *7 seed.  I'll be anxious to see if he can string a bunch of high quality wins together all in a row.  R1 may be smooth enough, but it's rough seas by R2, a storm by the quarters & a tsunami if he makes it to the semis. 

Some may not like how I would seed *8, *9 & *10, but I have my reasons.   I don't always agree with the rankings & that is the case here.  I feel Chance Lamer of Michigan is underrated at this time & I put Alec Hagan of Ohio above Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa for two distinct reasons.  He gave Millner a much better match than Realbuto did.  While Realbuto lost 4-0, Hagan put up a much better fight in a 7-4 loss. Hagan also owns a 10-2 major decision over the Panther.  To me that head to head result speaks volumes over whatever the rankings may say. 

At *11 we have Kody Komara of Kent State who I'm never quite sure what to make of. He's 1-7 against Hagan & as the wrestling Gods seem to love this Bobcat Vs Golden Flash feud we're probably gonna see it at some point this tournament. He's been pinned by Millner, nearly teched by Parco, & Thomas defeated him 6-1 as Demas owns a 6-3 victory.  On paper a top 12 finish is about where he ends up, but on the mat this guy has an ability to pull rabbits out of hats. He could very well end up top 8. 

*12 I give to Dylan Martinez of Air Force. This guys inconsistency & roller coaster ride of results is going to see him go in and out of the rankings the rest of the season.  A 9-3 victory over Komara helps to illustrate what he's capable of. He could very well be in the fight for a top 8 showing & he could very well be eliminated long before we get to that point. That's just the type of wrestler he is. 

Some might feel that Isaiah Delgado of Utah Valley should have the seed & Martinez should be left out, but I have two responses to that.  If the rankings went beyond 33, Martinez would most likely show up as #34.  Secondly Martinez has competed against the competition here, Delgado hasn't. Of the other 13 wrestlers I have listed, Delgado has yet to face a single one of them.  I feel Martinez's 9-3 win over Komara & the fact that he's given Colin Realbuto both 6-3 & 5-4 matches trumps the #33 ranking. 

Lastly I'm gonna throw in a word for Oregon State's Triston Lara. It's been an unfortunate series of misfortunes for the Beaver, but if by any miracle he's finally healthy & at 100%, he could turn out to be a very dangerous wrestler. That is of course, if he even enters this tournament.  To let you know what a healthy Lara is capable of, he owns a 9-4 victory over Parco.  

2022 CKLV 141 lbs Preview

 

To give you an idea of how loaded the 141 lbs weight class will be, I left some names off the list. I never do that. Yet I sat down and asked myself who seriously had the best chance at a top 12 showing in Vegas and I took a list of what was 24 and narrowed it down to 19.  Now the five I left off, will probably all end up upsetting their way to outstanding finishes, but that's the gamble you take in prediction.  We're talking 17 ranked wrestlers duking it out for a spot on the award stand. 

A quick note = Jordan DeCatur has the ranking and he did win the wrestle-off, so I'm going to assume as this point he'll be the starter for CKLV. I suppose it could be Dylan D'Emilio and if it is, so be it, but I'm treating it as if it'll be DeCatur. 

Picture guide 
Ranking & Name
School Name
CKLV Placings earned in previous seasons
What I would Seed 

With all of the parity, upsets & the fact that I don't always agree with the rankings, seeding this was much more difficult than 125 & 133. I used a combination of factors to determine how I would seed.  Ranking, head to head results, last season's results (speaking specifically to CKLV) and if need be other results as well.  Overall CKLV helps to illustrate how insanely tough NCAA Division I wrestling is & how difficult it is to be on your top game for all of the season. 

*1 I give to Frankie Tal-Shahar of Northwestern for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost his #5 ranking. Even though he finished R12 here last year compared to South Dakota State's Clay Carlson winning the tournament, he did beat Carlson 4-3 when they met later on at the NCAA championships. He also owns two decisive victories over Purdue's Parker Filius by scores of 11-6 & 11-4. 

*2 Carlson as mentioned was champion here last season.  He also has victories over Vince Cornella of Cornell, Ryan Jack of North Carolina State, Cael Happel of Northern Iowa & Filius. 

*3 I give to Cole Mattin of Michigan.  He was 4th here last season & he has a 3-2 victory over Tal-Shahar, along with victories over Angelo Martinoni of CSU-Bakersfield, Lawrence Saenz of Cal Poly and Filius. 

*4 is Tom Crook of Virginia Tech. The true freshman has looked exceptional thus far this season winning the Southeast Open & garnering up some pretty impressive victories. This will be the best of the competition he's faced this season & I'm anxious to see if his stock goes up or down post the Midlands. He's ranked #13 as of right now & I can't see him remaining at #13 once this tournament is said & done. He'll either move up in the rankings or down. 

Seeds *5, *6 & *7 I base on rankings and result.  Jack has a 9-7 victory over Brock Hardy of Nebraska & Cornella is ranked one spot higher than Hardy.   Hence *5 Jack, *6 Cornella & *7 Hardy. 

*8 I give to Cael Happel of Northern Iowa who does for the record own a 8-6 victory over Carlson. 

*9 is a guy I feel could very well win the tournament. Inconsistency, some recent losses & his current ranking make it difficult to think he'll be seeded much higher considering all the competition. However, this guy has an on switch that when operating at full capacity has the ability to beat anyone. He really came alive at the NCAA's last season with some huge upsets. It's hard to tell if he'll turn it on or not this tournament but if he does, watch out.  Against the field, he owns a 15-4 major over Mattin. 

Some may get testy with me putting Jesse Vasquez at *10, but I'll tell you why I did it.  He hasn't faced much of the competition in this bracket & he was pinned by Hardy in 3:36.  Trying to be as objective & based on the criteria as I can be, I feel *10 was fair.  I'll say the same for *11 Cleveland Belton of Oregon State. He's looked good thus far this season with wins over Malyke Hines of Lehigh & Martinoni but we have yet to see him in a tournament of this scale.  

As to the seeds, I put Jordan DeCatur of Ohio State at *12.  Based this on his ranking.  

Now, all 12 of these guys are ALL place-winner material. Some I'd be very surprised if they didn't make the award stand, but as tough as this bracket is, I wouldn't rule it out. 

There are seven more guys, who I feel also stand a shot at bringing home a CKLV mdal. 


Matt Kazimir of Columbia.  Despite a bit of a rocky start to the 22'-23' season, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Matt Kazimir finish with the top 8 here. He owns victories of Saenz as well as Bucknell's Darren Miller. More notably, among his losses many of them have been close matches.  A 3-1 loss to Crook & a 3-1 loss to DeCatur. There's no reason to think he couldn't turn those into victories. 

Miller is another one to look out for.  Some may argue that he should be seeded in my top 12 & I should be talking about someone else here. 

Martinoni was 8th here last year & could very well sneak his way back on to the award stand.  He took Mattin to a 5-4 decision the last time the two met.

Saenz was one match shy of placing here last year. He owns both a 6-3 decision & a 1:02 fall over Martinoni. 

Josh Koderhandt of Navy is one to think about in a tournament like this. At 133 lbs last season, he finished 5th here. Yet I think he's finding 141 lbs to be a bit more of a challenge. While he does own a 17-5 victory over Seth Koleno of Clarion & a 12-5 decision of Job Greenwood of Wyoming, he's also suffered some losses.  He lost 5-3 to Miller & he was nearly tech'd by Cornella 15-3.  Oddly enough, Koleno owns a 11-8 victory over Cornella. Make sense of that will you? 

So here we go, very tough bracket.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if someone who fails to place here ends up an All American by season's end. Many argue that CKLV is the toughest in-season tournament and looking at 141 lbs, it's hard to argue against that. 

2022 CKLV 133 lbs Preview

 

133 lbs at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational is absolutely insane.  15 ranked wrestlers, with last year's champion, runner-up & 3rd placer all returning.  It'll be a chore to finish top 8 here. 

Once again a guide to the picture...

Ranking & Name
School Name
Placings of Previous CKLV tournaments
What I would Seed 

Again we're dealing with an extremely tough weight class & I personally feel that all 17 of those I have listed above are very capable of a top 8 showing. 

The *1 seed at this point I give to Vitali Arujau of Cornell. One of the most discussed topics of the year is if anyone at 133 lbs can keep a threepeat of Roman Bravo Young of Penn State Vs Daton Fix of Oklahoma State in this year's NCAA finals. Many believe that if that someone exist, it is Arujau. Winning a CKLV title would certainly be a statement.  He has a ton of competition to go through in order to be crowned king though. Thus far he owns a 12-2 major over Sam Latona of Virginia Tech. 

I give *2 to last year's champion Dylan Ragusin of Michigan. Although he's lost twice to Michael McGee of Arizona State, he also owns two victories over Chris Cannon of Northwestern, who in turn pinned McGee. 

Hence why I give *3 to Cannon & *4 to McGee. 

*5 goes to Latona, who has a 10-1 major over Sean Carter of Appalachian State & a 3-2 decision of Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, who I give the *6.  Mendez himself owns a 5-0 victory over Haiden Drury of Utah Valley. 

*7 I give to Kyle Biscoglia of Northern Iowa, who in turn despite also having a 10-4 loss, owns a 7-5 sudden victory over McGee. He also has a 7-5 sudden victory over Drury. 

*8 Kai Orine of North Carolina State. I feel in many ways he's under-ranked. Among his victories of note, he owns a 3:57 fall over Chance Rich of Bakersfield, a 3-2 victory over Drury, a 6-4 victory over Boo Dryden of Nebraska & a 8-2 victory over Gabriel Tagg of South Dakota State. 

I hated to seed Drury all the way down at *9 seeing how he had such a good tournament here last year taking a very impressive 3rd. However, I don't see how I could logically or fairly seed him any higher. He has losses to nearly everyone seeded above him & no victories in turn. 

*10, *11 & *12 I give to in order, Dryden, Cody Phippen of Air Force & Carter.  Dyden owns a 3-2 victory over Phippen, who in turn owns a 9-3 victory over Carter. Carter for the record, owns a 3-1 sudden victory over Orine. 

Out of those that I would seed, we're talking 12 guys that will be in an all out war to make the award stand.  There's still a ton of talent left to talk about! 

Jason Shaner Jr of Oregon State is very capable of a top 8 showing. He put himself on the map recently with a 3-2 decision over Rich. 

Ethan Rotondo of Cal Poly comes in here healthy & ready to go, there's no reason he couldn't be a huge surprise of the tournament.  He's been capable his entire career & this could very well be his final opportunity to prove it.  Overall against Biscoglia he's 2-3 & he owns a 6-2 victory over Hunter Leake of California Baptist, another wrestler to mention.   Leake owns a 4-2 sudden victory over Rich. 

Which, of course you have to talk about Rich.  Rich placed himself in a vicarious predicament. With all of his losses, it's hard to put him anywhere other than what I did. Yet he's the type of wrestler that thrives in these types of situations. He LOVES being the underdog, it's often when he performs at his best. He's lost to McGee in the past, but he also owns a 6-4 sudden victory over the Sun Devil, as well as a 3-1 victory over Biscoglia.  He's one to get upset and he's one to upset.  Don't be surprised if he does both this tournament. 

Lastly Tagg is ranked within the top 33 in the nation for a reason. Another tough wrestler very capable of having a good tournament. 

From Round 1 on through, this is gonna be one to watch. 

2022 CKLV 125 lbs Preview

 

One of the, if not THE best in-season wrestling tournament is here! The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational & here at JT#1 we are going to take a look at each individual weight class one by one. Today we start at 125 lbs with a few notes indicated before we get started. 

First and foremost, since we haven't seen Brandon Courtney of Arizona State yet, I am going to imagine that he will not be making his 22'-23' debut here. Therefore I am going to treat this tournament as if the Sun Devil's starter will be Richard Figueroa. Of course, if Courtney enters this bracket, it will completely change the dynamic of what I think will happen. At this point I think if he WERE to enter, you'd have to give him the #2 seed. However, as stated, I'm treating this as if Figueroa will be the representative. 

Another question mark we have is Virginia Tech. Seeing how Eddie Ventresca is currently 4-0 against Cooper Flynn, I imagine that Ventresca will be who the Hokies put out on the mat.  This is collegiate wrestling though & anything can happen. Nevertheless, treating this preview as if Ventresca is who they will be going with. 

Picture Indicator ='s 
Ranking & Name
School Name
Placements at CKLV in the Past 
What I would Seed

125 lbs 

I'll probably be saying this about every weight class, but 125 lbs is loaded! It'll be extremely difficult to crack into the top 8 and bring home a medal from Vegas. Very, very tough weight class. 

I don't see how you can give the *1 seed to anyone else other than Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern. The Wildcat is currently ranked #3 in the nation & he has victories multiple victories over both Liam Cronin of Nebraska & Malik Heinselman of Ohio State. He also owns a 6-1 victory over who I would put at the *2 seed, Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State. 

Kaylor, had a very impressive showing here last season, finishing 3rd.  Over all he is 4-0 against Cal Poly's Antonio Lorenzo and he has a 5-3 victory over Malik Heinselman of Ohio State, who I would personally seed *3.

I realize not everyone would put Heinselman at *3, but I'll tell you why I would.  A match away from placing here last season, he owns both a 9-5 victory over Cronin & a 6-2 victory over DeAugustino.  He's been at 125 lbs his entire career & I think that trumps a guy who was at 133 all of last season & has thus not wrestled any top 33 wrestlers during his month at 125.  

Speaking Matt Ramos of Purdue though, I give him the #4 seed making a similar assumption to that of those who have ranked him #8. I give him the #4 seed because he did quite well at 133 last season, placing 8th here & R12 at the NCAA's. It's often presumed that if someone did well at a higher weight class, they surely will do better down a weight. It's often the case, but not always the case. We'll find out this weekend. 

*5 I give to Antonio Lorezno of Cal Poly. He was 5th here last season & he's currently ranked #12. 

I debated on *6 & *7 between Appalachian State's Caleb Smith & Kent State's Jake Ferri.  Ferri owns a 5-2 victory over Smith and Smith owns a 4:34 fall over Ferri.  Ferri was 7th here last season as Smith owns victories over both Jarrett Trombley of North Carolina State & Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech.  Ferri is ranked #22 to Smith's #23 ranking. Flip a quarter, it's what I did. 

I felt really weird putting Liam Cronin of Nebraska at *8, but at this point where else do you put him? Being injured last season didn't do him any favors at all & this early into the season it's really hard to judge exactly where he's at. As to potential and capability, let's keep in mind a healthy Cronin stuck Ferri in 6:29, owns both a 8-3 & 8-2 victory over Heinselman & most importantly owns a 3-2 victory of DeAugustino.  If he's 100%, I wouldn't want to go up against him. 

*9 I give to Ventresca, with *10 going to Figueroa & *11 going Eli Griffin of California Baptist. All three of these guys are easily ones we could very well find on the award stand by tournament's end. 

Lastly, as to the seeds, *12 Jarrett Trombley of North Carolina State. I'm not sure what the deal is with him thus far this season, but he has not looked good at all. A two time NCAA qualifier & so far he's 1-3. Hopefully he puts it together and has a better showing here. 

As to the others....

I wouldn't at all be surprised if Joey Fisher of Clarion steps it up a notch and has a good showing. A runner-up in the MAC last season, I feel he's been overlooked by nearly all of those that take the time to do rankings. He's a very tough kid & I can't believe that out of the 10,000 media outlets that do rankings, that no one feels he's a top 33 wrestler.  Well, that's the entire point of a tournament like this one. Come in and make a name for yourself. Make it so that you cannot be ignored.  Fisher could very well do that. Kaylor only defeated him by a point, 4-3. 

Another guy to watch for is Tanner Jordan of South Dakota State. He's an up & down wrestler, but every now and again he pulls off some good wins.  He recently defeated Cronin 5-2. Not sure if that was a sign of Cronin still recovering from some nasty injuries or Jordan wrestling really well. We'll find out. 

Garrett Ricks of Wyoming may be another one to watch for.  He was an absolutely standout at the NJCAA level, winning a title for Western Wyoming.  In matches Vs DI competition he took both Kaylor as well as Courtney to 9-5 decisions. If he's gonna be a star in DI like he was in NJCAA, this is the time & this is the place to do it. 

Lastly, another guy to look for is Ohio's Oscar Sanchez.  As to inconsistency, he's worse than Jordan, but again like Jordan, capable of looking good from time to time. He's had close matches with Ferri as well as Heinselman.