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| #4 Dylan Ragusin Michigan |
Dylan Ragusin didn't compete in last year's CKLV championships, but he was a champion three years ago & 5th two years ago. When in a mood to wrestle, not only is Ragusin difficult to beat, he's difficult to keep you from scoring upon him. He he's on fire, he all about burning the whole house down. A 17-6 major over Evan Frost & a 15-6 major over Nic Bouzakis are proof of that. At the same time though, he doesn't always have the furnace running at full speed. He is susceptible at times to loss.
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| #7 Evan Frost Iowa State |
The young Cyclone has proven himself an excellent commodity to the Iowa State line up and once again plans to bring the cold Iowa weather with him to sunny Las Vegas, leaving the city with more than a little "frost." Last year the All American made the finals & has the tools challenge Ragusin, asll as was anyone else for the title. A 2-1 win over Tyler Knox, a 4-1 win over Julian Chlebove, and a 16-3 major over Zeth Romney, he's beaten Julian Farber by scores of 19-4, 8-5 & 14-3.
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| #9 Tyler Knox Stanford |
The young Cardinal was 5th here last year in his initial redshirt season, and thus far this year as a redshirt freshman he opened up a lot of eyes in Iowa City when he took out returning NCAA DI runner-up Drake Ayala. He could open up just as many eyes here in Vegas as he'll be a contender for the title. A 5-3 win over Zeth Romney & an 11-3 major decision over Nic Bouzakis help to suggest.
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| #11 Connor McGonagle Virginia Tech |
Thus far in his final season of eligibility, competing for the Virginia Tech Hokies for the first time Connor McGonagle has looked pretty good. A good win over Missouri's Kade Moore back on the 15th of November. If he can pick up a top 8 finish here in Vegas, that would be very good for him going forward.
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| #12 Zeth Romney Cal Poly |
Here's a guy win an on switch. When switched on he can be extremely difficult to beat. Like Ragusin, the switch isn't always in the on position. We have a bit of unpredictability here. Just perfect for a city overrun with Casinos, isn't it? You never know what you're gonna get when Romney steps out onto the mat. He was one match shy of a top 8 finish here last year & owns a 10-4 win over Jacob Van Dee.
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| #15 Nic Bouzakis Ohio State |
Nic Bouzakis wrestled extremely well here last season, capturing a 3rd place finish. After an 11-3 loss to Tyler Knox in R2 two, he rattled off six straight wins to earn himself Vegas bronze. This included annihilating Zeth Romeny 24-6 tech fall & sticking Derrick Cardinal at the 3:39 mark. He also defeated Cardinal 14-8 on the season as well.
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| #18 Julian Chlebove Arizona State |
Julian Chlebove finished one match shy of earning a top 8 finish here in Vegas last year. Plenty of evidence to think that he'll earn that medal this year. He owns a 4-2 win over Zeth Romney & he owns a 6-5 decision over McGonagle.
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| #19 Brett Ungar Cornell |
We haven't seen much of Brett Ungar as 133 lbs yet. A 2-0 loss against a very highly ranked Lucas Byrd is about all we know about him as he adjusts to his new weight class. At 125, he was quite fearsome. 7th two seasons ago, he was the CKLV runner-up this past season. This weekend I wouldn't at all be surprised if this when Ungar decides to show the wrestling community exactly what he's capable of at 133 lbs.
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| #22 Jacob Van Dee Nebraska |
Every year, without fail, a handful of wrestlers get hot at CKLV and wrestle extremely well. You never know who exactly those people are going to be, but in the spirit of rolling the dice and making a prediction, I can see one of them being Jacob Van Dee. An 8-6 decision over Julian Chlebove, a 10-8 win over Nic Bouzakis & most notable a 3-2 win over Dylan Ragusin.
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| #26 Jett Strickenberger West Virginia |
Among the viable place-winners here in Vegas this weekend, Jett Strickenberger will fight for a top 8 finish. We haven't seen a whole lot of him yet at 133 lbs, so difficult to predict. One of those have to wait and see what happens situations.
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| #28 Derrick Cardinal South Dakota State |
6th here a year ago, if all who can show up, do show up, Derrick Cardinal is most likely going to have to outwrestle his seed in order to earn another medal this weekend. He's the type that could very well do it. He made the semi-finals last season.
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| U.R. Or U.R. Julian Farber Or Cory Land Northern Iowa |
This isn't an open, this is an invitational, so we won't be seeing both Julian Farber and Cory Land. Bummer, cause I would like to. I'd like to see Julian Farber to see where he is at this season. He's probably one of the biggest question marks at 133 lbs. He's gotten his rear absolutely handed to him by Evan Frost on various occasions, but at the same time he's also handed Frost his! As a 20-5 technical fall and a 13-2 major decision. He's also defeated Jacob Van Dee by scores of 8-1 & 9-5, plus he owns a 5-1 win over Nic Bouzakis. So the the Panther knows how to win. He was 8th here a year ago.
Teammate Cory Land knows how to win too. He posted a very nice 9-7 win over Cardinal in dual action here a couple of weeks ago. 7-0 thus far on the season, he'll be looking to pick up more victories here in Vegas.
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| U.R. Gabe Whisenhunt Oregon State |
A match shy of earning a top 8 finish at last year's CKLV championships, Gabe Wisenhunt, will be wise and in the hunt for a medal this tournament.
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| #30 or U.R. Cael Hughes Or Reece Witcraft Oklahoma State |
You know if John Smith were still running the show, I'm pretty sure that he'd go with Cael Hughes here. When things seemed to be neck and neck, Smith almost always went with youth over experience in tough call situations. Thing is though, David Taylor is now running the show & he hasn't been around long enough to be able to make a hypothesis on what decision he'll make concerning Cael Hughes and Reece Witcraft.
Hughes is rather untested. Has a nice win over Sean Spidle, but other than that, collegiately he hasn't faced anyone of the caliber of talent that he'll face here in Las Vegas. This would be a great test to see exactly where he stands.
On the same hand, Reece Witcraft is place-winner material. He'd have to garner a few upsets, but that's a task he's more than capable of accomplishing. R12 here a year ago, he owns a 7-3 decision over Julian Chlebove.
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| The Off Setters |
Naming the 14 wrestlers (16 but two of them for sure won't be competing) that I already have, it's difficult to imagine (if all 14 do indeed compete) anyone else coming in and taking a top 12 finish. With that said, I've been watching wrestling for over 30 years and I know a tournament like this one is just dying to produce as many upsets as possible. At this level of wrestling, upsets are not rare. Matter of fact they're quite common. 133 lbs is full of wrestlers here at CKLV that are more than capable of pulling off that huge first or second round upset.
Micah Roes is due. He's a senior that's been around for just about ever. Qualified for the NCAA's way back when he was a freshman and hasn't made it back since. This would be the place to make a name for himself and let the wrestling world know that he still exists. For whatever it is or isn't worth, he gave Lucas Byrd a one point match.
Brendan Ferretti of Navy owns a 4-3 decision over Derrick Cardinal. Although Campbell won't be participating in this year's CKLV (they weren't on the list anyway) Dom Zaccone did place 4th here a year ago & Stockton O'Brien of Wyoming recently pinned him.
Other names capable of that early round upset are Hunter Leake of California Baptist, Kase Mauger of Utah Valley and Chad Bellis of Appalachian State.
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