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| #9 Victor Voinovich Iowa |
I would say that this will end up being Victor Voinovich's first real test as a Hawkeye. He's going in here from what I've been able to gather either the only ranked wrestler in the bracket or if not the only ranked wrestler in the bracket, the highest ranked wrestler in the bracket. This means that the expectation will be nothing less than winning this bracket and the black & gold faithful aren't going to accept anything less. I would think that coming in here he would either get the *1 or the *2 seed & while he's a strong candidate to win a title here, he will have to earn it. Owns a 3-1 decision over Alek Martin.
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| R.S. Colin Realbuto Northern Iowa |
The Panther is currently redshirting & as he's taking the season off from the varsity scene, he's wanting to plant a seed in the heads of the college wrestling world that when he comes back in '24-'25, he will be coming back to make some noise & earn All American honors. It won't be planting season here in Iowa for quite sometime, but I still wouldn't be all that surprised if he doesn't show up like a cultivator to plant that seed here at the Salute. Does he get the *1 seed here? Two wins over Voinovich suggest that he might. Thus far he's beaten the former Cowboy, now Hawkeye 3-2 & 5-4. Gotta love these types of match-ups, and what they potentially mean for the winner.
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| U.R. Gabe Willochell Wyoming |
As I contemplate a third match-up between Voinovich and Realbuto, it isn't lost on me that Gabe Willochell could easily come in here and spoil any plans of that meeting. I can see why Coach Branch has been a bit flustered as of late, as I too triple checked the rankings I'm currently using & could not believe that Willochell wasn't currently within them. He'd have to win two (at least) very tough matches to walk out of here Soldier Salute champion, but the fact of the matter is, it's not out of the question. 7th at CKLV & 3rd at Reno, I really don't know what's being held against him at the moment. What I do know is that if he does come in here and win this bracket, there will be zero excuse to deny him any longer.
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| B.U. Caleb Rathjen Iowa |
Even with everything that went down earlier this season, the Iowa room is still fun of a ton of talent & depth & Caleb Rathjen is evidence of that fact. Thus far the Hawkeye has an 11-5 win over Drew Roberts. While I don't think he'll win the spot over Voinovich, I do believe he'll get some W's over wrestlers who are varsity on their teams.
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| I Think We'll Find Out For Sure Here Alek Martin Daniel Kimball South Dakota State |
A thing I love about these types of tournaments is that we get to see the battle for varsity unfold in front of our very eyes instead of hearing second or third hand about what happened in a wrestling room. The Jackrabbits have two good talents at 149 lbs & I think we'll get to see both of them in action here at the Salute. Head to head, Daniel Kimball owns a 7-0 official victory over Alek Martin. Against Drew Roberts, Martin is 1-2 whereas Kimball is 2-1. Martin owns a 12-2 major over the Golden Gopher, where Kimball owns both a 5-4 as well as an 8-7 tiebreaker. Both Martin & Kimball are top 8 place-winner material in this tournament. A lot could be determined between wrestling one another & if they both end up wrestling Roberts again.
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| U.R. Drew Roberts Minnesota |
Sophomore Drew Roberts from my estimation has made a lot of positive adjustments & improvements form last year to this year. Already has 13 wins on the season out of 15 matches. I'm really anxious to see how he does against both Martin & Kimball. As mentioned above, he has losses to both Jackrabbits but he also have victories over them too. Against Martin he has both a 7-1 dec as well as a 16-5 major & against Kimball he has a 7-5 decision.
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| U.R. U.R. Nick Vafiadis Zac Cowan Navy Bellarmine |
I feel it is my job when I evaluate these weight classes to try and determine who will be our recognized place-winners. The Salute wrestled 8 places last year & I imagine that they're gonna wrestle to 8 places this year too. Two more guys that I think we'll see place are Navy's Nick Vafiadis & Bellarmine's Zac Cowan. As to Vafiadis I don't feel we've really gotten a chance to see him unwind in such a high stakes tournament. I'm not sure if the Salute has quite earned the "CKLV" "Midlands" or "Scuffle" status that it one day hopes to have, but am I off my hinges by fairly comparing it to say RENO? I think not. Vafiadis in my opinion will fight for a top 8 spot here. As to Cowan? At the beginning of the season I asked myself even though Bellarmine still isn't eligible for the post season who they might qualify if they were. Zac Cowan seems plausible to me, and I guess we'll get a good indication of whether my instinct was right or not here at the Salute.
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