With that jazz out of the way....
This year's Midlands bracket at 125 lbs features 9 of the top 33 in Division I. This includes The #2, #3 & #5 ranked wrestlers in the country. Three Midlands place-winners return, including a finalist & a champion. For what it's worth, the #1 in NCAA DIII will also test his skills and abilities amongst the DI talent.
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| #2 Patrick Glory Princeton |
The 2022 NCAA DI runner-up wants to be taken seriously as a threat to both Spencer Lee & his quest for a fourth NCAA title. 3rd at the 2018 Midlands championships, Glory walked out of Evanston the Midlands champion in 2019. Could he possibly be challenged here? In a 12-2 major over Ryan Miller & both 13-3 & 10-0 majors of Justin Cardani he looks unstoppable within his quest. Yet others have given him far better matches in that of freshman Dean Peterson of Rutgers who took him to 4-1 & 6-5 decisions as well as Dylan Shawver who wrestled him to an 11-9 decision. Evan Jack Medley has given Glory a 4-2 match & Michael DeAugustino wrestled him to a 4-0 decision.
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| #3 Michael DeAugustino Northwestern |
In a journey to gold, the 2019 Midlands runner-up may once again have to settle for silver. That is of course if he doesn't get upset first. Michael DeAugustino has losses to wrestlers in this bracket and among his victories he often wins by the skin of his teeth. I don't know how he's managed to win all six encounters that he has had with Jack Medley. A 12-5 decision, the rest have been 1 & 2 point matches, two of which have come down to sudden victory & another a tiebreaker. Three wins to one against Liam Cronin, wins have been 4-1, 3-2 & 8-6. In four matches with Justin Cardani he's won 3-1, 2-1 & 1-0 matches. Jacob Moran a 5-3 match, Jaret Lane a 2-1 match & even Corey Cabanban a 7-4 match. Major decisions like the 15-3 one he had over Patrick McCormick & even solid decisions like the 9-5 victory he has over Eric Barnett are few and far between for the Wildcat. Point is though, that even though so many of his matches are such nailbiters, they are still wins. At the end of the day that's what matters. No one cares what the score of the match was, as long as you win. Yet a 1 point lead can quickly become a 1 point deficit if you're taken down. That is true too. He'll be wrestling in front of a home crowd & that will work to his advantage.
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| #5 Richard Figueroa Arizona State |
When the season first began, most of us were wondering, where in the world is Brandon Courtney? Yet here we are 10 weeks into the season & I don't think anyone cares. Richard Figueroa is wrestling so well, why would they? The three time California state champ recently won a CKLV title. Will he be able to hang with Glory & DeAugustino for a Midlands title? We'll see.
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| #6 Killian Cardinale West Virginia |
The Mountaineer has yet to compete this season, but no doubt about it, the All American will pose a threat to the Midlands title if he debuts this tournament. He hasn't faced much of the competition yet, but an indicator is a 12-7 victory over Barnett.
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| Redshirt Drake Ayala Iowa |
The black & gold faithful are already super hyped about Drake Ayala as it is. Yet can you imagine how unglued they'll be if Ayala were able to come in here and win a Midlands title with the competition he has in front of him. The graduation of Spencer Lee is going to be felt no matter what, but by gawd the momentum it would have for Iowa going into the 23'-24' season if Ayala were to pull this off. He already owns a 6-5 decision over DeAugustino. Other victories include a 7-4 decision over Justin Cardani & a 12-3 major over Jacob Moran. Don't get over confident though, the young Hawk has suffered some losses.
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| #7 Eric Barnett Wisconsin |
I don't know how he does it. This son of a gun can look completely lost & yet in the last two NCAA championships he has found his way to the award stand. Will he be able to do the same thing in the land Eric Clapton refers to as "Sweet Home"? Inconsistent at times, he's proven himself to be good enough to make the finals. A 3-0 decision over DeAugustino & a 4-3 victory over Ayala more than prove his capabilities. HE also owns a 21 second fall over Ryan Miller, an 8-4 decision over Shawver, a 6-3 decision over Lane & two majors, be them 9-0 & 12-2 over Cardani.
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| #9 Liam Cronin Nebraska |
If third time isn't a charm, maybe fourth time is. Liam Cronin has participated in three Midlands championships thus far & has yet to bring home a medal. I say he can & he will this tournament. He's looked really good thus far this season & he has some victories to backup the confidence I have in his performance. These include a 2:02 fall over Barnett, a 9-5 decision over Shawver & what really sticks out, a 3-2 decision over DeAugustino.
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| #19 Dean Peterson Rutgers |
To have some notable wins throughout duals is one thing, but to put a series of wins together in a major tournament is another. Freshman Dean Peterson has already shown us what he's capable of in a 3-1 decision over Sheldon Seymour & a very impressive 10-2 major decision over Ryan Miller. If he can get those kind of victories in succession here, we'll see the young Scarlet Knight on the award stand.
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| #22 Ryan Miller Pennsylvania |
The 22'-23' season has already been peaks and valleys for the young Quaker. He's taken some lumps, but he's also pulled off some pretty impressive wins. Among those that stick out for this tournament he owns a 5-1 win over Cardani, a 10-4 decision over Carter Bailey & a 5-0 victory over Lane.
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| #25 Kurt McHenry Michigan |
Another young grappler looking to earn a top 8 finish here at the Midlands championships will be Kurt McHenry. In doing so, he'll also fight to keep hold of his varsity position. Teammate Jack Medley, whom he owns an official 5-4 decision over, will be looking to get it back.
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| #33 Jack Wagner North Carolina |
In the hunt to make the award stand, keep his ranking & improve upon it, Jack Wagner.
Now lets talk about the unranked talent in this bracket. There is a ton of it. Between parity & guys with notable victories, there's a good chance that our top 12 by tournament's end might reflect other than all 11 mentioned above. Redshirts, backups and the overlooked, we have quite a few capable of a R12, if not a top 8 finish.
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| U.R. Justin Cardani Illinois |
Two time NCAA qualifier Justin Cardani who was 6th here in 2018, seems to be in a bit of a regression. He hasn't been wrestling as well as of late. Yet, all it takes to redeem oneself is a good tournament. Once he does that, he's right back to where he was. No reason at all why he can't A 3-1 decision over Barnett, a 4-3 decision over Miller, he's beating Cronin three times. 6-2, 9-5 & 6-4 decisions. He also owns a 4-2 victory over DeAugustino.
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| U.R. Dylan Shawver Rutgers |
The starting position at Rutgers isn't etched in stone. There's still plenty of time & opportunity for Dylan Shawver to earn back his spot in the lineup. Among his victories of note he's defeated Jacob Moran 13-2 & 11-7 & he's defeated Cardani 3-1 & 3-2.
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| U.R. Jack Medley Michigan |
Another current backup who remains in the fight for a varsity position. Sometimes it isn't so much how you do against the man in front of you as much as it is how you perform against outside competition. Medley has proven he has the ability to perform well under pressure. He owns a 9-4 victory over Cardani & even more important an 8-3 decision over Barnett.
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| U.R. Patrick McCormick Virginia |
With a few wins here and a few wins there, Patrick McCormick usually waits until the ACC tournament to really come alive, but who knows, maybe he might here. He owns a 7-4 victory over Cardinale.
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| U.R. Corey Cabanban |
With Kysen Terukina (the way I understand it) competing at the Soldier Salute, Corey Cabanban has a golden opportunity here at the Midlands. It would take a series of major upsets in order to do so, but it may not be as far fetched as it seems. He hasn't exactly been getting creamed in his losses. He took Cronin into sudden death before dropping a 13-11 decision & as mentioned he also gave DeAugustino a 7-4 match.
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| U.R. U.R. U.R. Carter Bailey Jaret Lane Sheldon Seymour Lehigh |
The fight for varsity continues to be an all out war at Lehigh. Carter Bailey currently holds the spot, but it is anything but a given that he'll continue to hold it as the season progresses. All three of these talents, Jaret Lane & Sheldon Seymour included have the ability to perform well here at the Midlands. A standout showing here, might not cement one into the starting spot, but it will have some serious weight in the decision. Lane owns a 13-12 victory over Cronin & a 6:06 fall over Miller. Seymour has an 8-7 tiebreaker over Shawver.
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| U.R. Colton Camacho Pittsburgh |
Another long shot, but at this level, especially at 125 lbs, you do not ignore them. Colton Camacho owns victories over Bailey, Seymour & McCormick. We could see him in the blood round.
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| U.R. Jacob Moran Indiana |
Again a long shot, but cannot overlook a 4-1 victory over McHenry nor a 7-4 decision over Camacho.
As to non-DI talent?
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| #1 (NCAA DIII) Joziah Fry Johnson & Wales |
He started off at Campbell, so the plan was to initially compete at the NCAA Division I level. Thus far in DIII (at the time this was written) he has been taking names left & right accumulating a 21-0 record. Do I think this bracket is too loaded for him to pull off a top 12 performance? Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean that I'm not excited to see him compete. See what he can do.
Anthony Schickel of NJCAA Triton is one to watch out for too with a 24-2 record on the yeear with many techs and pins. One of his losses is by 2 to 14-1 Riley Bettich of Indian Hills while the other is by 2 to Iowa State's Ethan Perry man in the semis of Grand View Open. Schickel is ranked 4th and had a dominant victory over juco #5 Luqman Masued of Joliet.
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