Northwestern
Northwestern finished 22nd (26 points) with two AAs at the 2019 NCAA Championship, improving upon their 24th place finish (20 points) in 2018. Northwestern had a rough dual season last year going 2-7 in the Big 10 and 5-10 overall. They did have big wins against Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and Illinois. The Wildcats finished 14th at Cliff Keen and had an excellent Midlands tournament, finishing 3rd. They tied for 8th at the Big Ten Championship qualifying four wrestlers for the NCAAs with another getting an at-large bid.
The Wildcats have a very similar non-conference schedule this year compared to last year. They swap out Old Dominion for Northern Iowa and meet up with Virginia Tech, ND State, Stanford, Cal Poly and SIUE again. Northwestern will also be going back to Cliff Keen and, of course, Midlands. Both of their AAs return along with two of their three NCAA qualifiers and add a likely qualifier at 197. The Wildcats will still probably not be a very good dual team but with high end results from Rivera and Deakin, they have a good chance at equaling or improving their NCAA Championship result from last season.
125
Sebastian Rivera (Jr) <Christian Bros Academy, NJ>
Can Rivera beat a 100% Spencer Lee this season? Will Spencer Lee ever be 100%? Or can Rivera even beat an 83% Spencer Lee? The answers to those questions will fill a lot of threads on HR this season. Last season, Rivera went on a tear winning every 125 match he was in through the Big Ten Championship where he defeated Spencer Lee for a second time. He even went up to 133 to challenge #1 (at the time) Stevan Micic (Mich) in the only match he would he lose on the way to the NCAA tournament. At the NCAA Championship, Rivera was upset in the semis by Jack Mueller (UVA) preventing another rematch with Lee. Rivera ended up placing third after beating Vitali Arujau for the second time. He had a 30-2 record for the season. <Bonus: 59.4%, RPI: .730>
133
Colin Valdivez (Jr) <Rockhurst, MO>
Validivez made it to the Round of 16 in his true freshman year in 2018 but had a rough season last year, going 14-16 and not placing at the Big 10 Championship. <Bonus: 20.0%, RPI: .538>
141
Alec McKenna (Sr) <New Trier, IL>
Yahya Thomas (So) <Mount Carmel, IL>
McKenna will be trying to qualify for the NCAAs for the first time in his 4th and final season as a starter for the Wildcats. He went 9-13 last season and 0-3 at the Big 10 Championship. <Bonus: 18.2%, RPI: .534>
Thomas went 12-9 last season mostly at 141 with the high point being a 3rd place finish at Midlands. He ended the year with three dual losses at 149.
149
Shayne Oster (Sr) <Lockport, IL>
Yahya Thomas (So) <Mount Carmel, IL>
Last season, Oster placed 7th at the Big 10 Championship (6 allocations) and received an at-large bid for the NCAA Championship. He was the 31 seed and went 0-2 (12-14 overall). <Bonus: 23.1%, RPI: .578>
157
Ryan Deakin (Jr) <Legacy, CO>
With 157 considerably cleared out, Deakin most likely starts the season at #3 behind Hayden Hidlay (NCSt) and Kaleb Young (Iowa). Last season, after placing 5th at the Big 10 Championship, Deakin still received the 3 seed at the NCAA Championship where he lost two close matches to Young and placed 6th. His season record was 32-7. <Bonus: 38.5%, RPI: .682>
165
Erich Byelick (Fr) <Lake Highland Prep, FL>
Byelick went 12-9 mostly at 157 in his redshirt season. He didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers.
174
Tyler Morland (So) <Detroit Catholic Central, MI>
It looks like Tyler Morland is moving up to 174. Last season, getting one win was enough to place 8th at the Big 10 Championship and secure an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship @165. Morland received the 32 seed and went 1-2 (7-11 overall). <Bonus: 0%, RPI: .589>
Last season at 174, Braxton Cody had to take over for an injured Johnny Sebastian. Cody had a rough go of it as he went 0-11 (all by bonus). Sebastian has since transferred to Wisconsin.
184
Jack Jessen (Fr) <Willowbrook, IL>
Jessen is looking to be the 184 starter after going 12-7 during his redshirt season. He didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers. Jessen’s best win was against fellow redshirt Joel Shapiro (ISU).
Last season, Brendan Devine started as a true freshman and went 0 for 22. (Similar to my batting average with Jennifer Aniston before the restraining order went into effect.)
197
Lucas Davison (Fr) <Chesterton, IN>
Davison should be entering the lineup after a good redshirt season where he went 9-4 and placed 3rd at Midlands. He went 2-2 against NCAA qualifiers and lost a close decision to another outstanding redshirt, Tanner Sloan (SDSU).
Last season, returning senior Zack Chakonis went 6-18 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten Championship.
Heavy
Jack Heyob (Fr) <St. Xavier, OH>
Another freshman is entering the Wildcat’s lineup. Heyob went 9-9 as a redshirt last season. He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers.
Last season, Conan Jennings finished his collegiate career as a three-time NCAA qualifier. He placed 5th at the Big 10 Championship and received 12 seed at the NCAA championship where he went 2-2.
New Faces
Northwestern has a couple of wrestlers in the top-20 in weight class coming in this season:
Trevor Chumbley <Marmion Academy, IL>
Chumbley is a 2-time Illinois 3A state champion at 145. He is ranked #10 at 145 by InterMat.
Troy Fisher <Goddard, KS>
Fisher is a 2-time Kansas 5A state champion at 170. He is ranked #11 at 170 by InterMat.
Northwestern finished 22nd (26 points) with two AAs at the 2019 NCAA Championship, improving upon their 24th place finish (20 points) in 2018. Northwestern had a rough dual season last year going 2-7 in the Big 10 and 5-10 overall. They did have big wins against Virginia Tech, Wisconsin and Illinois. The Wildcats finished 14th at Cliff Keen and had an excellent Midlands tournament, finishing 3rd. They tied for 8th at the Big Ten Championship qualifying four wrestlers for the NCAAs with another getting an at-large bid.
The Wildcats have a very similar non-conference schedule this year compared to last year. They swap out Old Dominion for Northern Iowa and meet up with Virginia Tech, ND State, Stanford, Cal Poly and SIUE again. Northwestern will also be going back to Cliff Keen and, of course, Midlands. Both of their AAs return along with two of their three NCAA qualifiers and add a likely qualifier at 197. The Wildcats will still probably not be a very good dual team but with high end results from Rivera and Deakin, they have a good chance at equaling or improving their NCAA Championship result from last season.
125
Sebastian Rivera (Jr) <Christian Bros Academy, NJ>
Can Rivera beat a 100% Spencer Lee this season? Will Spencer Lee ever be 100%? Or can Rivera even beat an 83% Spencer Lee? The answers to those questions will fill a lot of threads on HR this season. Last season, Rivera went on a tear winning every 125 match he was in through the Big Ten Championship where he defeated Spencer Lee for a second time. He even went up to 133 to challenge #1 (at the time) Stevan Micic (Mich) in the only match he would he lose on the way to the NCAA tournament. At the NCAA Championship, Rivera was upset in the semis by Jack Mueller (UVA) preventing another rematch with Lee. Rivera ended up placing third after beating Vitali Arujau for the second time. He had a 30-2 record for the season. <Bonus: 59.4%, RPI: .730>
133
Colin Valdivez (Jr) <Rockhurst, MO>
Validivez made it to the Round of 16 in his true freshman year in 2018 but had a rough season last year, going 14-16 and not placing at the Big 10 Championship. <Bonus: 20.0%, RPI: .538>
141
Alec McKenna (Sr) <New Trier, IL>
Yahya Thomas (So) <Mount Carmel, IL>
McKenna will be trying to qualify for the NCAAs for the first time in his 4th and final season as a starter for the Wildcats. He went 9-13 last season and 0-3 at the Big 10 Championship. <Bonus: 18.2%, RPI: .534>
Thomas went 12-9 last season mostly at 141 with the high point being a 3rd place finish at Midlands. He ended the year with three dual losses at 149.
149
Shayne Oster (Sr) <Lockport, IL>
Yahya Thomas (So) <Mount Carmel, IL>
Last season, Oster placed 7th at the Big 10 Championship (6 allocations) and received an at-large bid for the NCAA Championship. He was the 31 seed and went 0-2 (12-14 overall). <Bonus: 23.1%, RPI: .578>
157
Ryan Deakin (Jr) <Legacy, CO>
With 157 considerably cleared out, Deakin most likely starts the season at #3 behind Hayden Hidlay (NCSt) and Kaleb Young (Iowa). Last season, after placing 5th at the Big 10 Championship, Deakin still received the 3 seed at the NCAA Championship where he lost two close matches to Young and placed 6th. His season record was 32-7. <Bonus: 38.5%, RPI: .682>
165
Erich Byelick (Fr) <Lake Highland Prep, FL>
Byelick went 12-9 mostly at 157 in his redshirt season. He didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers.
174
Tyler Morland (So) <Detroit Catholic Central, MI>
It looks like Tyler Morland is moving up to 174. Last season, getting one win was enough to place 8th at the Big 10 Championship and secure an automatic qualification to the NCAA Championship @165. Morland received the 32 seed and went 1-2 (7-11 overall). <Bonus: 0%, RPI: .589>
Last season at 174, Braxton Cody had to take over for an injured Johnny Sebastian. Cody had a rough go of it as he went 0-11 (all by bonus). Sebastian has since transferred to Wisconsin.
184
Jack Jessen (Fr) <Willowbrook, IL>
Jessen is looking to be the 184 starter after going 12-7 during his redshirt season. He didn’t have any wins against NCAA qualifiers. Jessen’s best win was against fellow redshirt Joel Shapiro (ISU).
Last season, Brendan Devine started as a true freshman and went 0 for 22. (Similar to my batting average with Jennifer Aniston before the restraining order went into effect.)
197
Lucas Davison (Fr) <Chesterton, IN>
Davison should be entering the lineup after a good redshirt season where he went 9-4 and placed 3rd at Midlands. He went 2-2 against NCAA qualifiers and lost a close decision to another outstanding redshirt, Tanner Sloan (SDSU).
Last season, returning senior Zack Chakonis went 6-18 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten Championship.
Heavy
Jack Heyob (Fr) <St. Xavier, OH>
Another freshman is entering the Wildcat’s lineup. Heyob went 9-9 as a redshirt last season. He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers.
Last season, Conan Jennings finished his collegiate career as a three-time NCAA qualifier. He placed 5th at the Big 10 Championship and received 12 seed at the NCAA championship where he went 2-2.
New Faces
Northwestern has a couple of wrestlers in the top-20 in weight class coming in this season:
Trevor Chumbley <Marmion Academy, IL>
Chumbley is a 2-time Illinois 3A state champion at 145. He is ranked #10 at 145 by InterMat.
Troy Fisher <Goddard, KS>
Fisher is a 2-time Kansas 5A state champion at 170. He is ranked #11 at 170 by InterMat.
