As we head into week three of the collegiate wrestling season, we have a good dual between Maryville & Central Oklahoma this Saturday in NCAA Division II. Four matches stick out in particularly & we'll now take a look a them.
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| Shaun Muse Vs Evan Binder 133 |
You can read the expression of anger on Evan Binder's face in this photograph. We didn't see a whole lot out of Shaun Muse last year, but in the handful of times we did get to see him compete, he pinned Binder in 0:34 seconds. Huge win for the Broncho, as Binder would go on to place 2nd at Super Region IV & get within a match of naming himself an All American. Was it a fluke? Did Muse simply catch Binder off guard and put him on his back? Was it legit? Was Muse showing us that he'll be a Super Region title contender and AA material himself? Lots of plausible outcomes in this one. "Vengeance by mine" may very well sayeth the Binder. Looking very forward to this one.
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| Kody Ketchum Vs Dylan Lucas 141 |
Here we have the Super Region IV bronze medalist taking on the Super Region IV gold medalist. The last time these two met, it was a 2:14 fall over Dylan Lucas over Kody Ketchum. Lucas an All American in 2023, came up short of another medal last year. I'm sure that has his fire going. I think this match goes the distance this year though. I don't see it ending in the first period again.
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| John Gholson Vs Garrett Wells 184 |
On paper, you'd think that a Super Region IV champ, 6th in the DII nation would just destroy a Super Region IV 5th place-winner. Not the case. The last time the two met, Wells had to work hard, picking & choosing his shots in a 5-0 win. I say Gholson is capable of giving him an even better match than that. Wells is super talented, even the type that could win an NCAA DII title, or at least be in contention for it by season's end. On the same hand though, Gholson is a wrestler of pure grit. Those kinda guys make you wrestle all 7 minutes, make you earn each point you get.
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| Jeremiah Larson Vs Emmanuel Skillings 197 |
Seth Duckworth recently said on Twitter that a wrestler being ok with being a backup for a while, before he got his opportunity was a rarity in wrestling. Well, maybe it is, but one who did was Emmanuel Skillings. Behind one of the best 197'ers in DII ever, Dalton Abney, last season, Skillings more than showed us he was going to be an excellent replacement for Abney, as he placed 7th at a very tough Midwest Classic. Among the W's he picked up last year, two were against Larson in a 12-3 major decision & a 9-8 decision. On the same hand though, Larson handed Skillings a 16-7 major decision loss, so we have a bit of back & forth going on here. Larson for the record was 4th at last year's Super Region IV.
