COVID altered wrestling history massively.
By my account, these are some matches that may have happened if there had been no COVID and no extra year of eligibility for some. This is after glancing at the past several brackets.
Have fun and predict these potential final matches
1) 2020 141: Luke Pletcher vs. Nick Lee. Were seeded 1 and 2.
2) 2020 174: Mark Hall vs. Michael Kemerer. Were seeded 1 and 2.
3) 2021 125: Spencer Lee vs. Nick Suriano. Lee would probably have been going for his 4th here. This would have been an immensely ballyhooed final. Lee was 1-0 against Suriano in college, with Lee winning 5-1 in the 2018 125 final. Suriano would probably still be at Rutgers, btw.
4) 2023 197: Michael Beard vs. Tanner Sloan. No extra year for Brooks or Dean (Beard probably stays at PSU) or Bonaccorsi (the champ at 197 this year) means this is your likely 197 final.
5) 2024 165: Keegan O'Toole vs. Mitchell Mesenbrink. No extra year for David Carr. Talk about a hyped match - many assumed this would be it even with Carr in the bracket, but obviously KOT gassed and Carr beat him.
6) 2024 157: Levi Haines vs. Meyer Shapiro. It was generally assumed this would be the final, and much speculation attended it, but Shapiro lost to Cardenas (whom he then beat soundly for 3rd). Losing some COVID eligibility would have changed seeding and probably helped Shapiro's draw on the bottom end.
P.S. It appears O'Connor (who would be my favorite at 149 in 2020) was probably the only guy who could beat Levi in '23. Levi and Robb probably would have been seeded 1 and 2 and Levi beat Robb twice, albeit by close scores.
P.P.S. Cenzo and Marinelli were famously seeded 1 and 2, ready for an epic final match, but I honestly think Marinelli, with his NCAA history (never made the finals in 4 tries), was ripe for an upset by any of White, Wick, or Wittlake.