Talk about an insanely tough weight class. Depending on who all shows up (hopefully all who can) we could be talking about 11 returning place-winners. We could be talking about three wrestlers who have won a CKLV title in the past. Three more who have earned runner-up honors. 17 ranked wrestlers and 6 of those 17 within the top 10. It's been said before that CKLV can be every bit as tough as is the NCAA DI championships. Sometimes even tougher. 141 lbs is a great example of why exactly that is said.
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| #2 Jesse Mendez Ohio State |
Last year's NCAA DI champion, Jesse Mendez won an assortment of titles last season & CKLV was one of them. He'll have a huge target on his back & everyone will want a shot at dethroning King Buckeye.
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| #4 Brock Hardy Nebraska |
You never know what you're going to get when Brock Hardy steps out on to the mat. He won the CKLV title two seasons ago and looked like a million bucks doing it. Then last year he came in, lost in the semi-finals & eventually ended up in 6th place. With exception to Jesse Mendez, Hardy has beaten most everyone he'll potentially face within the bracket. A 6-1 victory over Cael Happel & a 4-0 win over Tagen Jamison. He's also beaten both Sergio Lemley (10-4 & 13-9) & Jack Ryan (5-4 & via fall 4:48) twice. Here's the catch though...all of them have beaten him too. Makes placing bets interesting, doesn't it?
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| #6 Cael Happel Northern Iowa |
With finishes of 2nd & 4th thus far, Cael Happel heads into this weekend looking to become a three time CKLV place-winner. He's already proven himself one of the best in the NCAA DI yet to All American, but he could potentially really make a statement upon that claimer here in Vegas. Among the competition he's defeated Brock Hardy twice by scores of 11-8 s.v. & 15-13. He's had his way with Sergio Lemley on the mat in 14-5 & 16-7 major decisions. A 7-1 win over Tom Crook, he's defeated Tagen Jamison 4-2, 4-2 & 4-1. He also owns three wins over Jordan Titus, 11-3, 13-4 & 10-5. Having only met Jesse Mendez once on the mat, he dropped a 4-2 decision.
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| #7 Sergio Lemley Michigan |
19 wins on the season last year, Sergio Lemley had a lot of highlights during his rookie campaign as a Wolverine. Among them, a 4-2 victory over Brock Hardy. Lemley himself was one match shy of earning a top 8 finish here in Vegas, but there is plenty of reason to believe he'll earn one this tournament.
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| #8 Josh Koderhandt Navy |
Similar to Cael Happel, Josh Koderhandt is another wrestler in his final season of eligibility you can categorize in the best yet to All American category. 5th three years ago & 4th two years ago, Koderhandt lost in the second round of CKLV last year & failed to place. The opportunity to redeem himself presents itself.
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| #9 Jordan Titus West Virginia |
A Midlands champion last season, we now get to see how Jordan Titus fares against the competition at CKLV.
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| #10 Tagen Jamison Oklahoma State |
5th at last year's CKLV championships, there is good reason to believe that Tagen Jamison will outwrestle both his seed and his ranking. He owns a 13-5 major decision over Brock Hardy, a 7-6 decision over Sergio Lemley, a 4-2 decision over Josh Koderhandt & a 4-2 decision over Jordan Titus.
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| #11 Kai Orine North Carolina State |
The starter here will be Kai Orine, as Jack Ryan is currently redshirting. I figured I'd include Ryan in the write-up simply to illustrate how much tougher the bracket would be if he were in it. Ryan has finished 3rd and 2nd the past two CKLV championships. Orine himself won a CKLV title last season competing at 133 lbs & now we get to see him compete at 141 lbs. This will be a great test to see where the two time All American stands up 8 lbs of muscle.
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| #12 Chris Cannon Northwestern |
I started watching collegiate wrestling back in the '91-'92 season. I'm also an amateur historian of the sport. In my years of observation and study, Chris Cannon is only the second wrestler I've ever known to transfer to another school & then transfer back to his original school. During his first two varsity seasons at Northwestern, he had quite a bit of success. Picking up medals in various tournaments. This included CKLV, where he was 2nd in the '21-'22 season & 8th in the '22-'23 season. He's since battled injuries and moved up a weight class.
What can we expect out of him this tournament? Based on heart, determination and fortitude, I'd say a lot. In those categories I dare not doubt the Wildcat one bit. However, strength, speed, conditioning, ect? There I have question. How much did the injury he suffered last year affect him? How about going up a weight class? What kind of an affect is that going to have? CKLV will be quite telling.
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| #15 Haiden Drury Utah Valley |
Haiden Drury was 3rd at CKLV his freshman season, and has yet to make the award stand again. This will be his final opportunity to do so & he's given reason to think that he'll capture his second medal. So far he's looked as good as he's ever looked carrying a 9-1 record into the tournament. This includes shutting out Kai Orine in dual action by a score of 5-0. He also owns a 2-0, as well as a 6-1 decision over Cole Brooks. Not to mention he gave Josh Koderhandt a 5-4 match.
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| #16 Vince Cornella Cornell |
When I said this bracket was loaded with talent, I meant it. Vince Cornella was 8th here last season & there's good reason to think that he'll collect another medal this weekend. A 15-3 major decision over Josh Koderhandt speaks for itself, as Cornella is quite capable of defeating others currently ranked above him as well.
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| #17 Sam Latona Virginia Tech |
Like in the case with North Carolina State, I'm 99.9% positive that the starter here will be Sam Latona. I simply include Tom Crook in the write-up to once against illustrate how much tougher this already insanely tough bracket could be. Crook was 5th at CKLV two seasons ago, plus he owns plenty of quality wins, including a 4-1 decision over Jordan Titus.
As to Latona, he's a two time NCAA DI All American at 133 lbs, now trying to prove himself up at 141 lbs. He's 11-2 thus far on the season. I think on a really good day, Latona is capable of doing a lot of great things. When I say great things, this is what I'm picturing. He owns a 3-2 decision over Jesse Mendez & the other time that he wrestled Mendez, he took him into the tiebreakers before dropping a 2-1 decision. CKLV is perhaps the most important moment in a season to a wrestler before the post season. Helps to really gage and illustrate where someone stands and what they're capable of.
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| #26 Kai Owen Columbia |
Kai Owen has himself one heck of a road to go down if he wants to finish top 8 at this weekends CKLV, but the Lion has pulled off some notable upsets in the past. This includes a 2:59 fall over Cael Happel.
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| #27 Zach Redding Or U.R. Jacob Frost Iowa State |
If you've ever seen National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation, then you remember the hilarious scene where Chevy Chase is in the cheap casino, and he has to guess what number someone is holding behind their back. Coach Kevin Dresser is a bit like that particular dealer in that he likes to keep us guessing who will start at various weight classes. To me, it makes the most sense to start Zach Redding. He has the higher ranking, & he gave Josh Koderhandt a 3-2 match. That doesn't mean anything though, we could just as easily see Jacob Frost here. No wins over the competition he'll see here, but he's shown what he's capable of with a win over Josh Edmond of Missouri.
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| #28 Cole Brooks Wyoming |
Last season Cole Brooks found himself one match shy of a top 8 finish here at CKLV. The competition is (as you can clearly see) extremely stiff as he'll look to have another good showing this weekend.
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| #32 Or Redshirt Jason Miranda Or Aden Valencia Stanford |
In all of the other examples, I feel confident that the varsity starter will be the one to compete here in Vegas. When it comes to Stanford, I'm not so sure. With redshirt rules being as they are today, it actually wouldn't surprise me at all to see Aden Valencia get the nod here. Thus far in his redshirt campaign, he's shown tremendous promise. This includes sticking Zach Redding at the 5:50 mark. It makes you wonder, what else is the young Cardinal capable of? Who else might he be able to knock off? I'm sure these are questions Coach Ayres would like answered himself.
At the same time, Jason Miranda is the starter and unless there is plan to pull Valencia's redshirt, he'll be the starter for the Cardinal come post season. Miranda has rode the fence his entire career. I've written, "one match from qualification" about the Poway, California native on more than one occasion. The NCAA DI takes the top 33 wrestlers in each weight class, and I'll be damned if he wasn't #34 each time. The thing is, you have to have those quality wins. You have to have them under your belt and you need as many of them as you can muster. So in that regard, it makes sense to start Miranda. He was one match from placing here last year.
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| #33 Eli Griffin California Baptist |
16 super talented wrestlers already mentioned, it's difficult to believe that there are other plausible candidates for a top 12/top 8 finish, but Eli Griffin is one of them. He's had some notable wins in the past and Vegas is a city of upsets, isn't it?
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| Looking to Upset |
I have a reputation among the amateur wrestling media crowd for being "crazy." Well get out the straight jacket and call up Nurse Ratchet, because I'm looney enough to think with all of the talent that I've already mentioned, there may be a few unranked wrestlers in this bracket that could pull off some major upsets.
I mean Emilio Ysaguirre of Arizona State already has, hasn't it? I've been accused more than once in my years of outlaw/rouge writing of "reading too much into things" but how do you not when it comes to nearly majoring Brock Hady 10-4?
Greyson Clark of Purdue was an NCAA qualifier last year & McKenzie Bell of Rider, a two time NCAA DI qualifier, as inconsistent as he can be, has pulled off some notable wins in his own right.
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