Wrestling 2022-23

[mountainred]

Pulling for Brendan, but it seems unlikely to me.  He's going to need a lot of things to break right for him.  

Still, what a tournament!

The biggest thing that he has going for him is that the non-AQ heavyweights simply aren't all that impressive. (Brendan aside, who is great. Also, I met his dad in Philly and we talked for a bit. (For those who don't know), Furman's brother is a Cornell commit, though probably going to be at the RTC for a gap year.) If he can make it over the "eligible for consideration" hurdle I have a good feeling.

Hope you are right and a weak bubble helps.  I've been disappointed in the past with candidates who I thought had better resumes.  (Please don't ask for names, right though.)

[ugarte]

Pulling for Brendan, but it seems unlikely to me.  He's going to need a lot of things to break right for him.  

Still, what a tournament!

The biggest thing that he has going for him is that the non-AQ heavyweights simply aren't all that impressive. (Brendan aside, who is great. Also, I met his dad in Philly and we talked for a bit. (For those who don't know), Furman's brother is a Cornell commit, though probably going to be at the RTC for a gap year.) If he can make it over the "eligible for consideration" hurdle I have a good feeling.

Hope you are right and a weak bubble helps.  I've been disappointed in the past with candidates who I thought had better resumes.  (Please don't ask for names, right though.)

Most of my disappointments in the past (Baughman, for example) were resolved by learning that they weren't eligible in the first place. jdalu75 was the EIWA SID (I don't think he still is?) and is a good resource on those issues but SHP and gimpeltf are both also great on the nuts and bolts of the NCAA/EIWA numbers game. Even jdalu admitted to sometimes being confused by some of the interpretations of the criteria.

DM'd with Berreyesa today and he pointed out that his win over the NQ from Binghamton doesn't help his case because he wrestled Casella at 174 but Casella dropped to 165 later in the year and qualified for NCAA at that weight. Blech.

[ugarte]

Heavy heart. Neither Furman nor Berreyesa got at-large bids. I still have hope that they are alternates and are late additions to the field if someone who qualified withdraws (not that i wish harm on anyone).

Cornell is still sending 7 to the tournament and most if not all will be in the top half of the bracket. Love it.

[ugarte]

Seeds are out and... everyone is in the top half of the bracket.

125: #15 Brett Ungar vs #17 Ryan Miller (Penn) - Miller won the first matchup, a month ago, 6-1. Not a great draw. Winner faces #2 Glory, an even worse draw! Honestly the path to AA may be easier if he loses to Miller if chalk in his path holds. Obviously want him to win though.

133: #3 Vito Arujau vs #29 Angelo Rini (Columbia) - Vito won 12-3 in late January and I'd expect a repeat. A surprisingly tricky path for a 3 seed. #14 is Jesse Mendez, a good frosh from Ohio State (who he beat 6-1) and then #6 is Sam Latona (VT) who handed him his only loss of the year, 3-2, though Vito won their earlier matchup 6-1. I do think Vito is, as his seed would indicate, the best in his quadrant. The top two seeds are 3x runner-up Daton Fix (OK State) and 2x champ Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State), so it's a deep weight.

141: #7 Vince Cornella vs #26 McKenzie Bell (Rider) Bell has some very good wins but some truly head-scratching losses. He defaulted out of the MAC tournament after getting upset. If Cornella wins, his next matchup would be against either #10 Lachlan McNeil (UNC), who beat him earlier this year, or #26 Cole Mattin (Michigan), who beat McNeil. If he clears that hurdle, #2 undefeated Andrew Alirez (N. Colorado) will probably be there. I looked at his path through the likely courses through the consolation bracket if he holds seed and it's not terrible if chalk holds. He'd be facing the 11/12 winner for AA.

149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis vs the winner of #32 v #33 It doesn't get interesting until the SF (knock wood) when he could potentially face #5 Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) who took him to SV. Last year's finalist took a redshirt year, he's never had a particularly close match with the #2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State). #15 Austin Gomez, the only man to beat him this year, got injured and missed most of the year then lost the opening match of the B1G tournament on his return then got DQ'd in the consolation round for slamming a kid on his head - and he has to get through Sasso and the rest of his half of the bracket. As always, it's Yianni's tournament to lose.

165: #4 Julian Ramirez vs #29 Caleb Fish (Michigan State) Fish has no interesting wins and lost to the Princeton backup. The second round is a surprisingly tough matchup in #13 Alex Facundo (Penn State). Facundo stumbled a bit at B1G, which hurt his seed, but he was a top recruit and otherwise had a very good year. Bummer of a second round match. If he gets through Facundo, round 3 with #5 Quincy Monday probably awaits.

174: #4 Chris Foca vs #29 Cael Valencia (AZ State) Valencia had a bad year but a good Pac-12 tournament, though it isn't a strong conference. Next up would probably be #13 Cade DeVos (S. Dakota State), who Foca beat 6-4 earlier this year. #5 Dustin Plott (OK State) is very good.

197: #10 Jacob Cardenas vs #23 Luke Stout (Princeton) Winning the conference gave Cardenas a huge boost in seed. He gets his third matchup with Stout this year. After splitting their meetings in 2022, Cardenas has won comfortably twice this year. A win probably gets him #7 Tanner Sloan (S. Dakota State) who is very good. Win again and it's probably 2x AA Bernie Truax (Cal Poly); lose and it's a dogfight through the bottom bracket for AA but it looks doable if chalk holds - his paths mostly lead him to the part of the bracket with 4/5 at the head. 4 is Rider's Ethan Laird; 5 is Michael Beard, who he just beat in the EIWA final. No easy paths for a 10 seed.

If all the seeds hold perfectly across the tournament (which won't happen, but still), and not accounting for bonus points, Cornell would finish in 3d place with 5 All-Americans. Great year so far. One mission left. LGR.

[ugarte]

Two days away from NCAA's, which run Thursday - Saturday. This is when I start getting twitchy with anticipation. The tournament is on ESPNU in the morning/afternoon sessions and the Mothership in the evenings plus streaming coverage of all mats on ESPN+.

[Al DeFlorio]

Two days away from NCAA's, which run Thursday - Saturday. This is when I start getting twitchy with anticipation. The tournament is on ESPNU in the morning/afternoon sessions and the Mothership in the evenings plus streaming coverage of all mats on ESPN+.

Nice. Thanks.

[nshapiro]

Is there any source that tells which match will be on which mat, or do I just have to watch that 8-in-1 screen?

[ugarte]

Is there any source that tells which match will be on which mat, or do I just have to watch that 8-in-1 screen?

you can find the upcoming bouts on Track. First guy up is our 125, Brett Ungar, the third match on Mat 8. The mat assignments will have current, on deck and in the hole posted. After the initial assignments, wrestlers get assigned as matches finish and slots open up. Some features of Track work with a Flo subscription (and password) but it isn't fully integrated yet. You can also get text alerts of mat assignments and/or results by team or wrestler.

First matches at 11 eastern.

[nshapiro]

Is there any source that tells which match will be on which mat, or do I just have to watch that 8-in-1 screen?

you can find the upcoming bouts on Track. First guy up is our 125, Brett Ungar, the third match on Mat 8. The mat assignments will have current, on deck and in the hole posted. After the initial assignments, wrestlers get assigned as matches finish and slots open up. Some features of Track work with a Flo subscription (and password) but it isn't fully integrated yet. You can also get text alerts of mat assignments and/or results by team or wrestler.

First matches at 11 eastern.

Thanks! You Da Man!

[nshapiro]

ESPN/ESPN+ coverage not starting until noon.  Hopefully only the pigtails are at 11am

[ugarte]

ESPN/ESPN+ coverage not starting until noon.  Hopefully only the pigtails are at 11am

it's 11 central sorry!

[dag14]

Unger advances

[jkahn]

4 wins so far:
Unger 6-1
Vito 12-6
Cornella 7-4
Yianni 6-1

[ugarte]

Ugh rough for Ramirez. MSU kept trapping him with a front headlock and using it to great effect. First bad loss for CU.

[Al DeFlorio]

Focal fall