A quick reminder that due to how scheduling was posted, it is of my understanding that starters from Iowa, Iowa State, Northern Iowa & South Dakota State will be participating at the Soldier Salute, with backups and redshirts here at the Midlands.
165 lbs seems fairly wide open from an assortment of angles. An opportunity for a championship to be won by lower ranked wrestlers & an opportunity for non-ranked wrestlers to make a name for themselves. I'd say little is written in stone & this may be one of the toughest brackets to predict.
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| #5 Peyton Hall West Virginia |
It wouldn't surprise me at all if one day we look back on Peyton Hall's career & he made the short list of Mountaineers to win an NCAA DI title. Along the way, he may add some other important championships to his resume & this season in particular it could very well be the Midlands. He'll be the top seed, I would imagine, although it may go to Cam Amine. Either way, Hall is a top contender. He owns both an 8-0 major over Justin McCoy & a 7-4 decision over Holden Heller.
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| #6 Cam Amine Michigan |
The two time All American will be one of the favorites entering this year's Midland's championships, but he will be far from a shoe-in to make the finals. If Cam Amine is to win the Midlands title, or even make the finals, he'll have to earn it. Against the competition he does have some losses. Among his wins, an 8-3 decision over Nick South & both a 3-1 & 5-3 decision over Bubba Wilson.
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| #8 Justin McCoy Virginia |
Cavalier has earned himself a top 8 ranking & if he wants to be within the top 8 by year's end, it's gonna take some standout performances. He has the ability to win a Midlands title & what a mark that'll make on his resume if he does. Thus far against the competition he's defeated David Ferrante 10-4 & 10-5.
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| #15 Danny Braunagel Illinois |
When Danny Braunagel takes the mat, anything is possible. And I do mean anything. This guy could easily walk out of here the champion & he could just as easily walk out without a medal. He has wins that clearly suggest that he can beat anyone in this bracket, yet he has losses that suggest quite a few could end up beating him. Among his wins, he's defeated Amine twice 3-1 & 7-5 s.v. He's majored Wilson (12-2) & he's defeated South 6-3 & 19-4 t.f. Against Ferrante he either kills or gets killed, his kills 14-3 & 24-11. Lastly, he owns a 9-7 s.v. over Holden Heller.
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| #16 Holden Heller Pittsburgh |
Since transferring from Hofstra to Pittsburgh, Holden Heller is still looking for that monumental moment as a Panther. The Midlands could very well be it. Among his victories, a 6-5 decision over Braunagel.
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| #24 Bubba Wilson Nebraska |
This guy defines intestinal fortitude. He's like a T-1,000. No matter what you do to him or put him through, he's always right there ready to fight. A couple of weeks ago at the CKLV, they thought they had him licked by pairing him with the *1 seed in the first match. Like a snow truck in the dead of a storm, he plowed his way through the consolations, eventually earning a 4th place finish. Among his wins a 5-3 decision over Amine, a 3-1 decision over Tony Negron & a 3-2 decision over Ferrante. I'd call him a title contender.
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| #28 Tony Negron Arizona State |
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| #30 Luca Frinzi Lehigh |
It'll be fun to see how Luca Frinzi matches up against the competition here at the Midlands. Like Negron he has wrestled well enough to earn a ranking but he hasn't faced any of the top competition he'll see here yet.
Among the unranked who could make a splash?
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| U.R. Lucas Revano Pennsylvania |
Among the strongest place-winner candidates of the unranked, Lucas Revano. The Quaker has been in and out the rankings, with victories over Braunagel (6-4 s.v.), Brian Meyer (6-5 t.b.) & Joshua Kim 3-1.
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| U.R. Brian Meyer Lehigh |
Brian Meyer hasn't looked all that great so far this season. In fact he currently stands at a 1-5 record. Yet, what he is capable of is a whole other story. The two time national qualifier has many top quality wins throughout his career. These include a 2-1 t.b. over Revano & a 3-1 decision over teammate Frinzi. If he's back to his normal self, he'll be one to look out for this tournament.
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| U.R. Joshua Kim Harvard |
Joshua Kim was R12 here in 2019, so it's easy to believe that he could very well end up R12 once again or even better. Among his victories of note, a 3-1 decision over Revano.
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| U.R. Nick South Indiana |
Nick South improves little by little as his career progresses. He's had moments, including an 8-4 decision over Ferrante.
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| U.R. David Ferrante Northwestern |
Here is our plausible bracket-buster at 165 lbs. Weighing in the pros & cons, he has quite a bit going for him this tournament. For one, the tournament is hosted by Northwestern. He'll be wrestling at home in front of a home town crowd. Secondly, as noted before Ferrante has the strangest of back & forths with Braunagel. While Braunagel has owned him twice, he's also owned Braunagel twice. This wins include a 14-6 major & an 11-5 decision. If he could only manage those types of wins against the rest of the competition, he'd be set.
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| U.R. Jonathan Ley Naval Prep |
Navy will be competing at the Soldier Salute, but the Naval Prep will be here at the Midlands. Their star? Jonathan Ley, who already owns a Shorty Hitchcock title. Can he break through and earn a top 12 finish/maybe better here at the Midlands? It'd be one heck of an honor for the youngster, especially considering who he'd have to go through in order to do so.
Best of the Non-DI competition?
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| #1 in NCAA DIII Nathan Lackman Rhode Island College |
NCAA DIII champion Nathan Lackman is currently 47-0 between this season and last. He's the man in DIII & it'll be fun to see how he matches up against DI compeition.
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| #3 in NJCAA Brenden Parks Harper |
One of the keys in NJCAA wrestling is to make yourself standout so that you'll get some attractive offers when it comes time to transfer to finish up your remaining two years of varsity eligibility. One junior college wrestler who sticks out to me who could very well do that is Harper's Brenden Parks.
Add in the potential of Arizona State transfer... Kendall Norfleet of Triton. He has losses to Parks and #2 Khayitov of Ellsworth. However, he does own a win over #11 D3 Rogge of Augsburg.
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