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| 125 lbs Spots Available: 3 Contenders: 3 |
One of the biggest questions here is who will be the starter for Arizona State? Do you go with Brandon Courtney, the senior who has already earned two All American accolades, including making the finals in '21? Do you go with him showing a trust in a wrestler who has already proven himself at the national level? Show a sign of commitment? Or do look ahead to the future with Richard Figueroa? The talented redshirt freshman who currently stands at 14-0, having won a CKLV title? Tough decision. Either way, I think we're looking at a Sun Devil PAC-12 champion at 125 lbs. Courtney handled Brandon Kaylor of Oregon State earlier this season 10-5 & Figueroa majored Nico Provo of Stanford 13-5. Kaylor who was 8th in the nation last season, defeated Provo 3-2.
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| 133 lbs Spots Available: 3 Contenders: 5 |
A four time NCAA qualifier, 6th in '21 & 4th last season, our likely champion here is Michael McGee of Arizona State. He has completely dominated the competition owning technical falls over both Jackson DiSario of Stanford (16-1) & Jason Shaner Jr of Oregon State (17-2). He also majored Ethan Rotondo of Cal Poly 14-7.
Shaner Jr, an NJCAA All American for Clackamas, is now in his last shot at making the NCAA championships. He goes in with two victories over Chance Rich of CSU-Bakersfield (3-2 & 8-6 s.v.) as well as a 4-2 decision over DiSario.
Rotondo is a guy that you'd like do well. A career that would have otherwise probably have seen many triumphs and successes if it hadn't been for certain hiccups. As we wish all stories would end, he is finally peaking as his career nears its end. A 6-1 victory over Shaner Jr, a 3-1 s.v. over Rich & an 8-2 decision over DiSario.
Rich is the most dangerous man in this bracket, mark my word. The Road Runner is an upset specialist and trust me, he's coming into Stanford, California to showcase.
DiSario, has kept it close with Shaner Jr & Rich. Seeing that the tournament takes place at home, it's not a far fetched idea that he could get hot.
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| 141 lbs Spots Available: 1 Contenders: 1 Jesse Vasquez Arizona State |
They're counting on Jesse Vasquez of Arizona State to win the PAC-12's with the one allocation they have given & rightly so. He is likely to win the title here. With that said, I don't dismiss the fact that there is other talent here. Cleveland Belton of Oregon State, Lawrence Saenz of Cal Poly, Jason Miranda of Stanford & Angelo Martinoni of CSU-Bakersfield. Vasquez has defeated nearly all of them. Saenz 7-3, Miranda 10-4 & Belton 5-2. Could who ever takes runner-up honors plausibly be given an at large/wildcard bid? I wouldn't rule it out, but I would say that it isn't likely.
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| 149 lbs Spots Available: 1 Contenders: 3 |
Sometimes you gotta take political correctness & worrying about offending others & go ahead and tell it like it is. I can understand the PAC-12 only getting two allocations here, but only one? What a crock of shit. Parco is 21-4 on the season. Abas is 21-4 on the season. How do you justify leaving space for only one? To think, if Dom Demas of Cal Poly upsets either one of these guys, that really screws things up because then it makes getting an at large/wildcard bid a challenge. Parco a two time All American at 6th in '21 & 8th in '22 owns a 10-2 major over Abas. Abas who was 7th in '21 owns a 4-0 victory over Demas who was 4th in '19.
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| 157 lbs Spots Available: 1 Contenders: 1 Daniel Cardenas OR Charlie Darracott Stanford |
Seeing that Daniel Cardenas has won three head to head matches (5-3, 6-4 s.v. & 7-4), I'm gonna guess that Stanford is going to go with him. Nevertheless, they might go with Charlie Darracott. I don't know. Either way, the Cardinal faithful are going to crown a champion on their home turf at 157.
A national champion in '21 & an NCAA runner-up in '22, Shane Griffith of Stanford is wanting to make his third trip to the NCAA finals & bring home his second national title. Before he worries about that, he first needs to concern himself with avenging his recent 3-2 loss to Matt Olguin of Oregon State for a PAC-12 title. That is of course if Olguin makes the finals. Legend Lamer of Cal Poly took him into s.v., losing a 7-5 match. For that matter, Lamer kept it pretty close with Griffith too, losing 2-0. Then also sneaking around this bracket waiting to make a move is Little Rock's Tyler Brennan. Both Griffith & Olguin defeated him 4-0, but he kept it much closer with Lamer in a 2-1 loss. Methinks that 165 could get down right interesting.
Sit back, watch and enjoy. It's about all you can do with a bracket like this. Trying to make predictions or guess is a waste of time. All I know is that only two guys are making it out of the PAC-12's. Even Brawley Lamer of Cal Poly who has a losing record & Triston Wills of Little Rock who hasn't won a match in the PAC-12 all season could plausibly make it out. That's how insane 174 PAC-12 is.
Aaron Olmos has a 3-1 victory over Albert Urias of Bakersfield & a 4-2 s.v. over Tyler Eischens.
Eischens, a two time NCAA qualifier usually doesn't decided to show up until the last minute, so him winning another PAC-12 title as an underdog actually makes a lot of sense. He does own a 6-1 victory on Olmos.
Perhaps the same could be said about Cael Valencia of Arizona State. Waits until the end of the season to start wrestling well, but hey, it's all about peaking right? A 6-4 decision over Olmos, a 6-3 decision over Eischens & a 6-5 decision over Urias.
You'd have a better shot at picking winning lottery tickets than you would trying to determine in what order wrestlers place 174 PAC 12.
Years ago I was a freshman in high school trying to decipher between Zach Thompson of Iowa State, Brad Vering of Nebraska & Mark Munoz of Oklahoma State, who was going to win the 2001 NCAA title. Now here I am all these years later, predicting that Mark's son, Trey will win the 2023 PAC-12 title. At one time I might have thought Anthony Montalvo of Arizona State might have given the '22 R12'er a match, but after seeing Munoz just rip him apart 14-4, I don't think that anymore. It'll be all Beaver 184.
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| 165 lbs Spots Available: 2 Contenders: 4 |
A national champion in '21 & an NCAA runner-up in '22, Shane Griffith of Stanford is wanting to make his third trip to the NCAA finals & bring home his second national title. Before he worries about that, he first needs to concern himself with avenging his recent 3-2 loss to Matt Olguin of Oregon State for a PAC-12 title. That is of course if Olguin makes the finals. Legend Lamer of Cal Poly took him into s.v., losing a 7-5 match. For that matter, Lamer kept it pretty close with Griffith too, losing 2-0. Then also sneaking around this bracket waiting to make a move is Little Rock's Tyler Brennan. Both Griffith & Olguin defeated him 4-0, but he kept it much closer with Lamer in a 2-1 loss. Methinks that 165 could get down right interesting.
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| 174 lbs Spots Available: 2 Contenders: 4 |
Sit back, watch and enjoy. It's about all you can do with a bracket like this. Trying to make predictions or guess is a waste of time. All I know is that only two guys are making it out of the PAC-12's. Even Brawley Lamer of Cal Poly who has a losing record & Triston Wills of Little Rock who hasn't won a match in the PAC-12 all season could plausibly make it out. That's how insane 174 PAC-12 is.
Aaron Olmos has a 3-1 victory over Albert Urias of Bakersfield & a 4-2 s.v. over Tyler Eischens.
Eischens, a two time NCAA qualifier usually doesn't decided to show up until the last minute, so him winning another PAC-12 title as an underdog actually makes a lot of sense. He does own a 6-1 victory on Olmos.
Perhaps the same could be said about Cael Valencia of Arizona State. Waits until the end of the season to start wrestling well, but hey, it's all about peaking right? A 6-4 decision over Olmos, a 6-3 decision over Eischens & a 6-5 decision over Urias.
You'd have a better shot at picking winning lottery tickets than you would trying to determine in what order wrestlers place 174 PAC 12.
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| 184 lbs Spots Available: 1 Contenders: 1 Trey Munoz Oregon State |
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| 197 lbs Spots Available: 3 Contenders: 3 |
I left four time PAC-12 champion Kordell Norfleet of Arizona State off of here because we haven't seen him compete since early December. I can't see him suddenly showing up 3 months later. I mean it is a possibility, but I'm gonna guess that it doesn't happen.
With that out of the way, the PAC-12 is taking 3 at this weight & here are the three.
Bernie Truax of Cal Poly owns a 9-5 decision over Nick Stemmet of Stanford & a 7-5 decision over Tanner Harvey. Truax has been 4th in the NCAA championships the past two seasons.
Harvey a two time NCAA qualifier owns a 17-6 major over Stemmet, who himself is an NCAA qualifier.
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| HWT Spots Available: 1 Contenders: 1 Cohlton Shultz Arizona State |
Sure last year's NCAA runner up (also 4th in '21) has had a couple of hiccups this season, but I rest assure you, he won't have any here. Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State is gonna rip through this bracket as if it were tin foil.
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