 |
| 125 |
THE toughest in-season tournament of the year is going to look a bit different in '25-'26, than what it has in previous times. Minus the mayhem this year will be Ohio State who has won six of the last 15 team titles & Nebraska, which has won three. This year's team title will most likely 2023 champs, Iowa State.
Each weight class offers an assortment of ranked talent that will give us great wrestling from the start of the tournament. Here are 125 lbs we have 10 wrestlers ranked within the top 20 (theopenmat.com) & four returning place-winners from previous seasons.
Let's take a look at those who will be in the hunt for a top 8 finish here in Vegas!!
 |
| #4 Eddie Ventresca Virginia Tech |
A CKLV runner-up last season, Eddie Ventresca will be looking to win this year's title at 125 lbs. Amongst the competition looking to challenge him for that number one spot, he owns a 4-2 s.v. over Stevo Poulin & a 4-1 s.v. over Jett Strickenberger.
 |
| #6 Stevo Poulin Iowa State |
Iowa State is the favorite to win the CKLV title this weekend, and they should have some individual champs. Most rankings have Stevo Poulin pretty high & his consistency should also play a factor into his seed as well. The head-to-head loss, will most likely give Ventresca the *1 seed, but Poulin should be the *2.
 |
| #12 Blake West Northern Illinois |
In his final season for the Huskies, Blake West is looking to really make his mark & show the world that he's more than just JT1Wrestle's top pick for a dark horse at 125 lbs. He's looking to make his mark, and show the wrestling community he means business. He's an All American contender. There be no better place to make that statement than in Vegas this weekend. Amongs wins over Tyler Klinsky, he's shown he belongs on the mat with the likes of Stevo Poulin, taking him to a 7-6 decision. If he could turn that close lose into a win, imagine the headlines that would make.
 |
| #13 Max Renteria Oregon State |
Another tough "senior", Max Renteria was 6th at last year's CKLV championships. The type of guy that likes to put points on the board, he owns major decisions over Koda Holeman, Richard Castro-Sandoval & Bridger Ricks. A CKLV champion contender? Time will tell.
 |
| #14 Tyler Klinsky Rider |
A lot of people seemed to be in shock & make a huge deal out of Tyler Klinsky majoring Jett Strickenberger 20-11 here a couple of weeks ago. Truth is, Klinsky defeated him the last time the two met as well. Albeit a much closer score of 6-4. How does Klinsky match up against the other competition he'll face this weekend? He was nearly tech'd by Marc-Anthony McGowan (14-2), and he has a close loss to Richard Castro-Sandoval (3-2).
 |
| #15 Jett Strickenberger West Virginia |
Weight classes sometimes have monkey wrenches and ooh, ooh, ah, ah, we have found ours. On the one side of things, Strickenberger looks like a very likely CKLV champion contender. He's pinned Stevo Poulin (2:15) ..Plus he's beaten him both other times as well! 12-9 & 11-6! The other side of things, is that as mentioned he was recently majored by Klinsky & he also was majored by Nico Provo 13-4.
 |
| #16 Marc-Anthony McGowan Princeton |
Marc-Anthony McGowan might as well get, "I'm the guy that almost beat the National champion last year in R2" tattooed to his forehead because it seems it's about the only thing anyone wants to talk about concerning his collegiate career. The wrestling community could very well have something else to talk about after this weekend, depending on MAM's peformance. He's a scorer. A 20-3 tech over Koda Holeman & an 18-3 tech over Dedrick Navarro are proof enough of that. He's also kept it close, a 1-0 loss to Jett Strickenberger & a 3-0 loss to Renteria.
 |
| #17 Nico Provo Stanford |
We're already up to the ninth wrestler I'm talking about at 125 lbs for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. When I say the wrestling here will be good starting at R1, I mean it. Our quarter-finals here are going to be F'n A!
 |
| #20 Brady Roark South Dakota State |
The young Jackrabbit put his name on the collegiate map with a recent 5-4 decision over All-American Jore Volk in dual action Vs Minnesota. He's also impressed me with an 11-2 major decision over Koda Holeman. What else is he capable of? Who else can he knock off? We'll have answers to all those questions come Saturday night.
So those are our ranked wrestlers (Theopenmat.com) here at 125 lbs. Those most likely to get the top seeds here at CKLV. Are there any unranked wrestlers who will be looking to earn a top eight finish? Absolutely! This is 125 lbs! The Gods of parity spend most of their time here.
 |
| U.R. Diego Sotelo Michigan |
If Michigan's Diego Sotelo is standing on the award stand come Saturday night, I for one will not be surprised. He's a tough wrestler that has placed in big tournaments before, such as the Midlands. He owns an 11-8 decision over Blake West.
 |
| U.R. Greg Diakomihalis Cornell |
I've talked about this a lot in previous writings. Being the younger brother of a four-time NCAA DI Champion can't always be easy. Without a doubt, Greg Diakomihalis is proud of Yianni and what Yianni accomplished during his time as a Big Red. He has yet to really make his mark though & this is his final season to do it.
Capability? Probably a lot higher than most currently think, if he's the starter on Friday.
Teammate Marcello Milani was 8th here a year ago & he also owns an impressive 4-2 win over Diego Sotelo (who for the record also owns a 6-3 decision over him).
Diakomihalis owns an official 4-1 dec over Milani & here's what really gives me faith to think he could finally break out of Yianni's shadow & make a name for himself this weekend. A 14-3 major decision over Sotelo & a 5-3 s.v. over our likely *1 seed Eddie Ventresca.
 |
| U.R. Dedrick Navarro Northwestern |
All in all, I have 21 wrestlers here at 125 lbs who I think are capable of being CKLV place-winners or at least in the blood round fighting for that status. It may seem like overkill at first glance, but if you pay attention to & watch NCAA DI wrestling, you know good and well that it isn't. Many of these matches will come down to one takedown. Many of them will be decided in sudden victory & in the tiebreakers. Referees being in and out of position will make differences. It'll be chaos from start to finish.
Add the name Dedrick Navarro to the list. He was one match shy of being top 8 here last year & he owns a 7-6 decision over Blake West.
 |
| U.R. Richard Castro-Sandoval CSU-Bakersfield |
The Roadrunner has some decent wins underneath his belt, including both an 11-4 decision as well as a 2:20 fall over Koda Holeman.
 |
| U.R. Koda Holeman Cal Poly |
Speaking of Koda Holeman, he owns both an 11-3 major as well as an 8-7 decision over Castro-Sandoval. Of bigger note, he owns a 3-0 s.v. over Renteria. He also owns an 8-6 decision over Navarro.
 |
| U.R. Tucker Owens Air Force |
125 lbs is never short of those types of wrestlers that make predicting a stressful job. It's wrestlers like Tucker Owens that will probably be the reason I have to take blood pressure medication someday. Here's a guy that will wrestle Jett Strickenberger to a 10-8 decision & then turn around to get majored by someone with a losing record. You can't leave the guy off a list like this. You do that, suddenly he's in the quarters. Owns an 8-3 decision over Castro-Sandoval.
 |
| U.R. Beric Jordan Oklahoma |
Cradlezone will be the first to tell you that CKLV is the kinda place for a guy like Beric Jordan to come alive. Thus far as a Sooner, owns an 11-2 decision over Koda Holeman. Let me also say that with a 6-4 win over Jett Strickenberger, I'll grant the same to teammate Conrad Hendrikson.
 |
| U.R. Bridger Ricks Utah Valley |
I've been accused of being overtly optimistic more than once during my career as a college wrestling media. No denial here. I still think that NJCAA superstar Bridger Ricks has the capability to make some big things happen in NCAA DI. No big wins yet, but is capable.
===
There you have it. Seeding is so crucial and so important to see who ends up placing and who finishes what.
I feel confident that Eddie Ventresca makes the finals.
We're going to see some huge upsets this tournament. I've been watching college wrestling for 32 years & there has yet to be a CKLV where there hasn't been huge upsets. 125 usually in the running for which weight class has the most.
It's awesome to me that his tournament takes place in the nation's capital for gambling. I mean where else should such an unpredictable, crazy, risky tournament take place?
No comments:
Post a Comment