Just my opinions:
125: I believe Nico will get it done against Dance. Nico's final tournament, not on Dance's home mat. Although Dance seems to pick it up at Nationals, I think Nico pulls it out. I'm sort of hoping Gilman beats Tomasello. Tomasello looked better at pushing the pressure in the last match even though it went to overtime. While I think Nico can beat Tomasello, Nico's already beaten Gilman. Anyways, these semifinal matches are going to be great!
133: Conaway has a very tough draw. However, either way he should be able to AA. He's been extremely consistent and has a lot of heart. I can only picture him wrestle his best at the big tournament. I just hope he beats Taylor so he has one less wrestle back to go through.
141:This is another weight where PSU had a tough draw. If Jimmy pulls the upset against Manley, which I think he can, that would be huge. Lets say he loses his first match, he would get the loser of Thorn vs Jordan in the wrestle backs in his next match (Assuming I looked at the brackets correctly!).That's a tough spot, but we know he can pull it off, just like we know he can beat Manley. Jimmy is the wrestler I'm most excited to see in the first couple of rounds because I have NO CLUE what to expect. Will he wrestle how he did at BIGs and continue the momentum? I think we"ll see a rematch with Ashnault. (Picked it up and beat Taylor last year at Nationals, he'll pull another one first round this year).
149: ZTrain will be moving. He has a great spot and we might see another Pantaleo vs Zpain picture finish in the semis. I still think Sorensen will make the finals and I see a similar result. Only difference is that I think Sorensen will be moving more on bottom which will open up some back points. Sorensen was already making it to Nationals during the Big Ten Finals match. He was down and balled up on bottom. He'll have to do more for any hope of winning.
157: Nolf already beat Gantt during his redshirt season and even though Gantt has looked great this season, his offense is nothing like Nolf's. The match with IMAR last time was slowed down a lot because Illinois coach found a way to stop the match and then with all of the other stoppage IMAR was able to breathe and that slowed Nolf down. IMAR is a phenomenal wrestler and if the match happens, it will be probably the most anticipated match. I think Nolf will be pumped for the rematch. As much as I wish it didn't happen, I think that loss is going to fire him up and a lot of points will be scored if they face again. I wouldn't sleep on a Miller vs IMAR, though….Semis are right after weigh-ins right?
165: I'm just happy he made the tournament, but his spot in the bracket could have been worse. Any points will be great considering I didn't see him making it after his loss to Rhoads. If he loses first round, he probably gets Pickett from Cornell who had beaten him earlier in the year (if I remember, Pickett won something like 9-3 the first time and they faced again and Pickett won that one in OT..?). I think he could beat Stoudenmeyer or Pickett. Let's hope for some kid of run for some insurance points.
174: Well, Nickal is going to be fine. We could see some big throws if Rogers (OKS) makes it past Epperly, but after seeing Rogers lose to Weatherspoon(ISU) I doubt we will see him in the quarters. Weatherspoon is longer and wasn't afraid to go upper body with him and won I think all of the takedowns. Epperly is a tough match. I actually think Epperly is a top 5 wrestler at this weight. Nickal's only loss was on a sloppy throw. We haven't seen anything close to that since and Epperly is more slow the match down. Nickal handled this match well last time and I think he's only improved. Nickal's already beaten Brunson and Ramos and Realbuto. I think Nickal Realbuto 2 would be AWESOME with a similar result.
184: How healthy is McCutcheon? Because when he is healthy, he can make a deep run through wrestle backs with his spot. Assuming he wins his first and then loses to Dean, he would have one match, then he would get Ellingwood (CMU) or Lampe (CHAT), then if he wins that he would get Miller (Navy) or Boyd (OKS) and I'm thinking Miller with the way Boyd has been wrestling (Boyd vs Dean could be a fun match given the last time they faced). But anyways, Miller wouldn't be easy, but if McCutcheon is healthy we have seen him wrestle outstanding. He crushed Zavatsky and beat Dudley. So I would pick a healthy McCutcheon over Miller. That would set up for (IF seeding held) Stauffer of ASU in the R12 who hasn't really wrestled anybody and I haven't seen him wrestle so I going off of record would be tough but possible. Anyways, he has to be healthy for anything. After watching his match at BIGs with Gravina, I'm hoping he was just down about his loss to Brooks rather than anything serious. Healthy McCutcheon = R12/7th-8th place finish….not healthy McCutcheon= 2-2
197: I want to see Burak in the semifinals because I think Hartmann is more dangerous than Burak. But with how well McIntosh has wrestled, I don't think it will matter. His feet were super quick in his finals match and he had some great shots, explosive, etc. In the finals we will be in for a treat with a rematch from last year between Cox and McIntosh most likely. Pfarr has an outside chance. Neither guy has struggled this year so it will be very interesting.
HW: I noticed a comment above about Marsden in the semifinals, I just don't think he's getting past Coon. So let's hope Coon wins and lets hope someone pulls an upset in the medal rounds to prevent more points here.
Clearly I have blue and white glasses on, but I really do think Penn State will be fine. Iowa and Oklahoma State have tough draws as well. Rhoads has a tough first round match, and Cooper vs. Berger in the first round will be tough for them. Iowa may only have Sorensen as a finalist. Clark vs Richards is toss up since they split this year. OK State is in a similar position except they have Dieringer. I haven't looked at NC State but I see a similar situation there as withIowa and OK state with the Gwiz.
