ADVERTISEMENT

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS THREAD

W

wrestlingfan22

Scholarship
Dec 11, 2022
269
481
63
www.ncaa.com

Penn State wins the 2024 DI men's NCAA wrestling championship

Full results from the 2024 Division I men's wrestling NCAA tournament in which Penn State won the title.
www.ncaa.com www.ncaa.com

Lets get it baby! I will give a quick rundown of every Pitt guy later and over the next week will attempt an obnoxiously long preview of every weight class with a Pitt wrestler (maybe the others if I get the itch)
 
  • Like
Reactions: kirbycroft, annapolisal1, docpanther26 and 5 others
Weight by Weight breakdown of seeds and round 1 matchups:

141: Cole Matthews is the 18 Seed and has 15 Seed Mitch Moore in Round One. These are two 6th year seniors going to their 5th national tournament trying to make one last run. Mitch Moore spent 2 years at VT, 3 at OU and is closing out his career at Rutgers. These two wrestled once in 2020 with Moore winning 4-2. Moore has been up at 149 for the last three seasons so they have not had any opportunities since to face off. This is a pure toss up match to start off the tournament. Moore went 3-3 at Big Tens with all his losses coming to top 10 guys, his 3 wins all came over nation qualifiers and two were with 30 second falls. Matthews has to be ready for something big early and get to his stuff.

149: Finn Solomon is the 31 Seed and had 2 Seed Kyle Parco in round 1. Parco is a 5th year with 1 year left, he started at Fresno State then transferred to ASU when they closed their program down. He has AA in 3 straight seasons and is looking to be a National Champ this season. Parco beat Solomon 9-2 in the dual but Solomon had some moments where he looked close to scoring. I hope Finn can close the gap in this one but I doubt that he is going to be able to sneak the upset from Parco who is just too good.

165: Holden Heller is the 25 Seed and had 8 Seed Antrell Taylor in Rd. 1. Antrell Taylor is a redshirt freshman who is a small 165, that has made a huge jump from year one to year two. He went 3-2 at Big Tens with a Sudden Victory win and a tiebreaker loss. He keeps matches close more often than not. He took 2 questionable losses at CKLV but other than that has only lost to former All Americans and Messenbrink. Holden's season was a series of streaks until ACC's where he went 1-2. Heller has not looked as good as he did at last years NCAAs, but last season he looked middling all year then turned it on at NCAAs. This is a match that Taylor was probably unhappy to see as his opening round and I think an upset could be on the table.

174: Luca Augustine has the 23 seed and is facing the 10 seed Incontrera from UPENN in round 1. Incontrera has had a very good season so far but is coming off a subpar EIWAS where he went 3-2 with all 3 wins coming against non qualifiers. Both him and Luca are on a downward trend coming off of Conferences. I think this is very winnable for Luca and that he should be very happy to be on this bottom side which is INCREDIBLY weak overall. Incontrera has some good wins this year and no bad losses but overall he is 1-4 in his career at NCAAs and the majority of his competiton is in EIWAS which is hard to gauge how it stacks up with the ACC overall. This was a solid draw for Luca.

184: Reece Heller is the 15 seed and has the 18 seed Ryder Rogotzke in round 1. Rogotzke is an absolute loose cannon who cannot be taken lightly in the slightest. Rogotzke has 15 wins by fall this season and some very up and down performances. He has lost to multiple non qualifiers but has wins by fall and tech fall over the 6 and 12 seed at NCAAS. He has also been pinned by a wrestler then majored them in the rematch and won by tech fall then lost by decision. He is a collection of big moves and every match is fire works. I think this will play into Reece's favor. He beat Feldkamp by winning the exchanges for big moves and I think he is more solid than Rgotozke. However, Rogotzke will go for all 7 minutes looking to throw someone to their backs so Heller can not take a second off. This is not a kid you want to see match one at NCAAs and Reece will have to be at his absolute best to stay out of trouble and off his back but if he does that he should win.

197: Mac Stout is the 21 Seed and has 12 seed Rocky Elam in round 1. This is an unfortunate draw for Mac, Rocky has gone 5th, 4th, 3rd in his three NCAA tournaments so far in his career. He has three losses this season, 2 to returning Finalist Tanner Sloan the other to Jacob Cardenas. He is seeded so low because he has hardly wrestled this regular season. However, he looks very good other than that and appears to be at his normal level. Mac would have to pull off a major upset to win this one.

285: Dayton Pitzer is the 21 seed and has 12 seed Konner Doucet. Doucet beat Pitzer 3-0 in the dual. Doucet has struggled in recent weeks and has a very low scoring style. He plans to win matches without ever getting a takedown. Pitzer can definitely take advantage of this and just needs to convert on one of his attacks to bring this one home. Top Bottom is going to be huge and he will need to do well riding timewise to get the win. I think this is about as good of a first match as Pitzer could have gotten based on his seed, he is absolutely capable of pulling this win off.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Pitt87, Sam Bam Clancy, kirbycroft and 7 others
Great write up!

I actually dont mind the Stout/Elam matches. Stout's main weakness is defending against high quality offensive wrestlers. Elam doesnt really fit that bill. He wrestles a bit more methodically than guys Mac has struggled against like Hidlay, Ramirez, etc. If Mac can steal a takedown or two, I think he has a.good.chance of pulling off the upset
 
  • Like
Reactions: docpanther26 and wrestlingfan22
141 lb weight class preview:
Cole got about the worst possible draw he could have in my opinion.
Round 1: Mitch Moore (read up top for the preview)
IF Cole Wins:

Winners RD 2: # 2 Seed Beau Bartlett from PSU (Returning 3rd Place, Beat Cole at the last second in tiebreakers last season in Quarterfinals)
Cole CAN win this match. Beau wrestles a similar low scoring methodical style and Cole had the win in his hands last year before he gave up the last second takedown. However, Beau has taken a leap that Cole is unlikely going to be unable to match. Beau wrestles close matches but is very hard to beat or score on. Cole has the talent to pull this off but I am leaning Bartlett. PREDICTION LOSS

Consis RD 2: His next match would likely be against Kal Miller who is 2-0 against Cole this season. Miller is the 32 seed but I expect him to win his prelim and first consi against UTC's Isiah Powe (who is incredibly overrated as 17 seed IMO). This sucks for Cole as Miller has bested him twice this year already but I do think that he will get his revenge in this matchup. PREDICTION WIN

(Consi) RD 16: His next match would be likely be against: the winner of (the winner of #25 Danny Pucino and #24 Vince Cornella vs. the loser of #10 Tagen Jamison and #7 Cael Happel). Cole has lost to 3/4s of these wrestlers already this season. I think Pucino beats Cornella because Cornella got hurt at EIWAS and its already a toss up match. I think Jamison beats Happel even though Happel is 2-0 on the season in the matchup. I just think Jamison is going to make the necessary adjustments to win this rematch. Regardless I expect Happel/Jamison to beat Pucino/Cornella and to be Cole's opponent in the round of 16, Cole beat Happel 1-0 at NCAAs last season so that is probably the favorable matchup compared to Jamison who beat Cole 8-2 in the Dual. I expect Cole's R16 match to be against Cael Happel and I think he would pull this off in a thriller (If he sees Jamison he would need to win the scrambles that he lost in the dual but I do believe he pulls it off. Pucino or Cornella would require Cole to wrestle like he did against ACC competition but are matches I believe he wins at NCAAs). PREDICTION WIN

BLOOD ROUND: Cole's blood round match is likely against the loser of Anthony Echemendia and Ryan Jack. Neither are guys you want to see with AA status on the line. Cole is 1-1 against Jack this season with many wins from past seasons in hand. He got majored by Echemendia in the dual when they faced off. I think Jack beats Echemendia in the quarters and that Cole will have Echemendia in the bloods. I predict this match goes in Cole's favor because the original match contained a big move from AE that Cole can avoid this time around. A stingy and good scrambling Cole can pull this off because he has the advantage over AE in top bottom. If it is Jack I think Cole uses his series lead over Jack to win the mental battle and steal another one. PREDICTION WIN

CONSI QTS: I think Cole's matchup here will be Sergio Lemley but it could very feasibly be Lemley, Hardy or even Mendez. Regardless of who he faces I think Cole will be feeling it after battling through that ridiculous gauntlet and will drop this match to his Big Ten opponent. PREDICTION LOSS

7th Place Match: I think Cole sees Tagen Jamison here but there are about 10 other guys it could be. Regardless I think Cole ends his NCAA career on a win and takes 7th place home.

This is my prediciton, I will now go through a few other alternate scenarios

IF Cole loses round 1,
Consi rd 1: He has a very winnable match against Kai Owen from Columbia

Consi rd 2: He would likely have Dylan Chappell. Sorry to Cranberry but I would be pulling for Cole in this one and thinks he pulls it off.

(Consi) RD 16: Brock Hardy or Sergio Lemley is who Cole sees here, I think Lemley beats Hardy again so therefore I think Hardy is waiting in this spot. This is a tough matchup for Cole as Hardy is a high scoring wrestler with many accomplishments. If he loses he's done so lets say he wins.

Blood Round: Lachlan McNeil is incredibly likely to be the guy here. This would be who Cole wants to see as he just beat him at ACC's and has never lost to him. I think Cole would win this one and AA.

One could definitely argue that it is an easier path to AA if Cole loses round 1 based on matchups but I think he will pull it off either way.

If Cole wins round 1 and round 2
He will see the Jamison/Happel winner in the Quarters

If he wins he likely has Woods in the Semis

If he loses he has a very winnable blood round match that could be against any of 5-6 different wrestlers.

Overall I think Cole has a bad draw and will likely have to pull off some upsets to walk out as an AA but that he is going to make some magic happen. But it is very plausible he goes 1-2 or 2-2 or loses in rd16 or bloods.
 
  • Like
Reactions: persp
persp said:
Great write up!

I actually dont mind the Stout/Elam matches. Stout's main weakness is defending against high quality offensive wrestlers. Elam doesnt really fit that bill. He wrestles a bit more methodically than guys Mac has struggled against like Hidlay, Ramirez, etc. If Mac can steal a takedown or two, I think he has a.good.chance of pulling off the upset
Click to expand...

Don't do that. Elam's gonna shred Mac.

It's a 3x All-American against the 3rd best guy in the ACC. Do you remember the 2022 Nationals? Me, too.
 
149lb preview:

Finn has a great draw for being the 31 seed.

RD1: See above

Consi rd 1: He will have Cody Bond or Corbyn Munson here. Both are wrestlers that he has transitive wins over and are not nearly as battle tested as Finn. I would lean towards Finn winning this match (likely against Bond IMO)

Consi rd 2: This will be Grahm Rooks or Kelvin Griffin (I think it will be Griffin since he beat Rooks earlier this year). Either way this is much more of a toss up. Rooks had a great run last season but has not looked the same this season and is someone that Solomon should have a close match with. If he has Griffin it will be very interesting as Griffin is an absolute hammer on top and consistently will chose the top position to turn and stick people. I think Finn is better on his feet than Griffin and will be able to win this match by being aggressive and getting takedowns.

(Consi) rd 16: This will likely be Jaden Abas or Ethan Fernandez, maybe Casey Swiderski or Drew Roberts. Abas is a former AA back in 2021 but has never looked at that level since. He has no major wins so far this season. Finn can totally beat him if he they face off. Fernandez beat Finn 4-1 in the dual and is solid, but I question him being the 9 seed. It was a close match the first time and I feel confident Finn could flip the result if given the chance. Roberts is good but does not jump out to me as a lock to defeat Solomon that is another winnable match. Swiderski is an absolute machine who likely does not drop to consi this early. If he does I would have Finn has a sizeable underdog.

Blood Round: Finn would have Jackson Arrington or Austin Gomez in the blood round. He had a close match with Arrington and they have teammate familiarity so he has a better shot in that match up but I don't think he pulls of either of these upsets. But I do think he has a very real shot to the blood round and is likely to win at least 1 match at the big dance. I think this is about as good of a draw as he could of hoped for and all he has to do is take it one match at a time through the consis.

Finn was much easier to preview than Cole because he has a rather straight forward path
 
165:

Match 1:
Heller Has Taylor rd 1: See Above

Match 2:
If he wins his likely opponent is Peyton Hall who split matches with last year. Losing by Fall in the Dual and winning in SV at NCAAs. Hall has been better this year but Heller showed last year that he shows up on the big stage.

If he loses his likely opponent is Stoney Buell who is solid but someone Heller should beat if he sees him in this consi round.

Match 3:
If he wins matches 1 and 2 he will have Keegan O'Toole in the quarters and will lose, likely by bonus

If wins match 1 and loses match 2 he will have likely have Fields from NCST. Fields has owned the series so far this season so Heller will have to make adjustments form the last two matches but that is another very winnable match for Holden.

If he loses match 1 and wins match 2 he will likely have the loser of Olejinik/Amine in this match. He is the underdog in both of these matches. He lost to Olejinik in the dual meet 5-2 and he could probably flip the result but it would be very difficult. Amine is incredibly stingy and has always found a way to peak at NCAAs. This is likely where Holdens run would end if he loses round 1.

Match 4:
If he wins matches 1 and 2 then loses to KOT he will be sitting in the blood round. There a bunch of wrestlers he could see here and none of them are former All Americans or especially intimidating on paper. Whoever gets to this spot in the bracket has given themselves a great chance to AA.

If he wins, loses then wins he would have one of the 15-18 seeds. Connor Brady is one of these options. Regardless of who he faces it would be a definite 50/50 match that he could win or lose.

If he loses then wins his next two he would see be in the same situation where he faces one of the 15-18 seeds.

Match 5:
His possible blood rd opponents if he wins loses then wins 2x are Julian Ramirez and Michael Caliendo. He is a major underdog to both of these wrestlers and I would not expect him to win.

If he loses then wins 3 straight his possible blood round opponents would be Hamiti and Carr, he would be a tremendous underdog to both of these wrestlers.

Heller has a solid path if he can pull of the minor upsets in his first two matches. If he wins his first then loses his path is still solid but not as easy.

Personally I think he will AA if he wrestlers to his best because he will win his first two matches wrestling at that level and then the corresponding blood round.
 
Has anyone heard an update on Wells from Minnesota, or any other 133s on injury watch? Vince is first alt there, right?
 
174:
Rd 1: See above for preview, my prediction is a loss but a win is possible

Match 2:

If he wins: Lennox Wolak from Columbia, beat Luca at NCAAs last season. Just won EIWAS and is a very up and down wrestler. This is a toss up matchup.

If he loses: Benny Baker from Cornell who he beat in the dual meet. This would be a match that is probably close but Luca would be expected to win again.

Match 3:
Win, Win: Would have the 2 seed Cade Devos and almost certainly drop to the blood round. An upset wouldn't be impossible but very unlikely.

Win, Lose: Would have Adam Kemp or Brayden Thompson, He beat Thompson in the dual and Kemp is also a winnable matchup

Lose, Win: Would have Adam Kemp or Brayden Thompson, He beat Thompson in the dual and Kemp is also a winnable matchup

Match 4:
Win, Win, Lose: A bunch of guys he could hit here, Most of them he has beat before. This would be a favorable draw for sure if he gets here.

Win, Lose, Win: I expect he sees MJ Gaitan here, he beat him in the dual and would likely be able to do so again.

Lose, Win, Win: A bunch of guys he could have, all would be toss up level matches. Another favorable draw

Match 5:
Win, Lose, Win, Win: Pat Kennedy or Shane Griffith would be the likely opponents. He is the underdog against both, Griffith is banged up so maybe a MFF could happen out of the Quarters and Kennedy is beatable but he is an underdog for sure,


Lose, Win, Win, Win: Rocco Welsh or Ed Ruth would be the likely opponents. Both are the favorite against him. He lost to Ruth in the dual and is the underdog against him. Welsh was his HS teammate and that could be a big advantage or a detractor and I don't know their dynamic well enough to know. But this would be a very interesting matchup.

I predict he loses match 1 and makes a run to bloods but falls to Welsh. Overall, he has a good draw and a chance to AA as an at large selection.
 
184:
Match 1: See above

Match 2:

If he wins Match 1 he will have 2 seed Salazar who just won big10s and is 21-1 on the year. Heller is a major underdog in this one but an upset is not impossible as Salazar's only loss this year is a questionable one to Colton Hawks. He also lost in the bloods to Feldkamp last year. Overall Salazar looks too consistent to go down this early so Reece likely falls to consis here.

If he loses Match 1, He would have Tony Negron here and be a large favorite I expect to get the win and move on.

Match 3:
Win, Win: He would have Stewart or Fishback here, both winnable matches but both also matches he could lose. I doubt he gets here but if he does he very well could make the semifinals.

Win, Lose: He likely would have Dugan from Princeton or Feldkamp from ISU here. Both are matches I expect him to win but Feldkamp would be the more interesting matchup as he brings the fireworks.

Lose, Win:
He likely would have Dugan from Princeton or Feldkamp from ISU here. Both are matches I expect him to win but Feldkamp would be the more interesting matchup as he brings the fireworks.

Match 4:
Win, Win, Lose: This would be his blood round match, likely against Ayzerov or Bullock, both would be winnable matches. If he somehow beats Salazar he is likely to AA but that is unlikely

Win, Lose, Win: This would be the Fishback/Stewart loser and he would have a real shot to win against either of them

Lose, Win, Win: Wolf or Berge would be his opponent here and he is the underdog against both but can also definitely come out on top.

Match 5:
Win, Lose, Win, Win: This blood round would be Munoz or Pinto both of which are bad matchups that I expect Reece to lose

Lose, Win, Win, Win: This blood round would be Truax or Pinto both of which are bad matchups that I expect Reece to lose.

Reece has a tough draw, but this is also just a very tough weight. Overall, I think he is probably a R16 guy based on his draw which is unfortunate because with the right draw he is good enough to AA
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos
197:
Mac has an unfortunately straight through path:

Match 1: Look above

Match 2:
Should have Wehmeyer in the consis, should win this matchup, he beat him at the Clarion Open.

Match 3: Will have Jaxon Smith or Lou DePrez, he is a major underdog against both, he lost to Smith 8-2 in the dual and DePrez is a top 10 guy nationally in his 7th! Season with 150 career wins in college.

I don't really see Mac having a different path unfortunately but I hope he can shock us with a great run
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos
141 UPDATED:

RD1: Has not changed

RD2:
If he wins still Bartlett

If he loses he sees Kal Miller here. Not an ideal matchup but I think Cole gets his revenge in this matchup if he sees him

RD3:
Win, Lose: This will be Powe, Brya or Carter most likely. All winnable matches that I expect Cole to get the job done in.

Lose, Win: This will still likely be Dylan

RD4:
Win, Lose, Win: Still likely Happel or Jamison (Maybe Pucino or Belton). Still a tough matchup for Cole but the preview is the same as above.

Lose, Win, Win: Likely Hardy or Lemley, very tough matchups that are winnable but not at all easy.

RD5:
Same Blood Round Matchups.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos
285:
RD 1: See above

Match 2:
Pitzer has an intriguing second round winners bracket matchup. 5 Seed Nathan Taylor who Pitzer is 2-0 against in his career. He beat him 10-1 in his collegiate debut last year and 2-0 in the dual this season. It would be a very tough match as Taylor seems to keep getting better and Pitzer may not be 100%, however he has the historical advantage and can make the quarters with a win here.

If Pitzer loses rd 1 he will likely have Tinker from Cal Poly here. This is a match Dayton should definitely win.

Match 3:
If Pitzer wins his first two he will likely have Colton Shultz in the Quarters. Pitzer won this matchup last year and lost this year in the match he hurt his shoulder. Pitzer is the underdog but if he pulls it off he would secure AA status as a semi-finalist. This is another toss up match so it shows how Pitzer has a solid path to possibly getting top 6.

If Pitzer wins then loses he will have Cover from Princeton or Hill from Little Rock which are both winnable matches that I would feel very comfortable with

If Pitzer loses then wins he will have Josh Heindselmen from OU here most likely. Heindselman is very good and keeps matches very close so it would be a pure toss up that Pitzer would have to likely secure a takedown to win.

Match 4:
If Pitzer makes the semis he will have Kerkvilet here and drop into consi semis as a top 6 placer.

If Pitzer makes quarters then loses he will have either Taye Ghialdi or Lucas Davison here. Both are very tough matchups, but I think he would rather have Ghialdi as Davison is a multi time AA who is a similar build to Pitzer and would probably give him more trouble. Ghialdi is from Cambell and very good but faces weaker competition and I think Pitzer can take this toss up match if it happens.

If Pitzer wins, loses, wins he will likely have Slaviouski or Nevills here. Both are winnable matches that I would expect Dayton to use his speed to win. Very solid wrestlers so if Dayton is not 100% or doesn't wrestle his best he could drop these matchups.

If Pitzer loses, wins, wins, he will likely have Boone McDermott here. This is another match I would have as a real toss up. McDermott is good and often keeps matches low scoring so one takedown could probably be the difference.

Match 5:
If he wins, loses, wins, wins he would likely have the Ghialdi/Davison winner. So take that preview and apply it here.

If he loses, wins, wins, wins this is where I would expect him to face off against Owen Trephan or Nick Feldman. He can beat both of these wrestlers but Trephan is 2-0 against him in college and Feldman is the same age and is also a smaller heavyweight. These would both be very tough matches for Dayton to pull off but they are also doable.

Overall he has a very solid path and I think he will AA but if his shoulder has issues or he just doesn't wrestle his best he could very easily go 1-2. Excited to see him compete at NCAAs this season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos
Matthews got completely out muscled the entire match. Hopefully he can get it together in the consolations
 
If Solomon gets confident in his offense, he can compete with anybody, but until then. he had a minute and a half to get a takedown to win the match against a number two see and He never took a shot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: singregardless and lucac
i've been following along all season. seems as our guys just can't get over any humps all year. has it been a disappoiting season or are we just not good enough right now?
 
  • Like
Reactions: TJ-Pinzburgh
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

1

Thursday at PPG Paints Arena and Beyond

Replies
6
Views
480
Center Court at the Pete
whirlybird optio
whirlybird optio
W

Pitt vs UNC on Friday

Replies
80
Views
3K
The Field House
Cranberry Pantherfan
Cranberry Pantherfan
1

The Conversation

Replies
10
Views
900
Center Court at the Pete
Chomp_Panther66
C
W

PITT VS NC STATE FRIDAY NIGHT @FITZ

Replies
53
Views
2K
The Field House
pafootballguy
P
Eric_Knopsnyder

Pitt wrestlers in coaches' rankings

Replies
1
Views
1K
The Field House
NAtiger112
N
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back