Post by johnnythompsonnum1 on Aug 4, 2014 15:20:05 GMT -5
125 - The talk of who will be the NCAA champion @ 125 this year has mostly been divided between Jesse Delgado of Illinois, Nico Megaludis of Penn State and Nahshon Garrett of Cornell, with a fair amount of confidence in Iowa's Cory Clark and even a little in the return of Missouri's Alan Waters off of a redshirt. The guy to keep an eye on here though, as a dark horse, is Virginia Tech true sophomore Joey Dance. If you take into consideration how good he was last year, only a year out of high school and how much he's bound to have improved over the course of the offseason, just think about how good he could possibly be this year. He could seriously pose a real threat for the NCAA title and throw a real wrench into the equation. With that said though, he hasn't even won the ACC title yet, and with North Carolina's Nathan Kraisser standing in his way, he might not. Even though Dance placed 4th at the NCAA's and Kraisser DNP, it was Kraisser who won when the two met in the ACC semi-finals last season.
133 - I'm sure that sophomore Hokie Dustin Gustafson would like to add another title to his credentials, and he may very well do just that, but I think this year's ACC championship is going to belong to Virginia's George DiCamillo who returns after a redshirt season.
141 - One of the tougher weights in the ACC, the fight for the title will be between Virginia Tech's Devin Carter and North Carolina's Evan Henderson, with a not-so dark horse prediction of Pittsburgh's Edgar Bright being in the hunt as well. Bright, as you may recall defeated Henderson 12-5 in the ACC semi-finals last season. Also look for Qualifications out of North Carolina State's Sam Speno and Virginia's Joey Spisak.
149 - Pittsburgh's Mike Racciato and Virginia's Gus Sako both seem to be the forerunners of the weight class, but I wouldn't put it past Tar Heel Christian Barber to bring home a title for the Tarheels either. I'll even go as far as to say that I can see Brian Hamann possibly making the finals as well. Although he had a terrible ACC tournament last season, he has shown his ability to wrestle very well.
157 - Yet another weight, that I think will be dominated by the return of a wrestler off of a redshirt. I look for Virginia Tech's Nick Brascetta to have a standout season, and win the ACC title this year. He may even challenge for the NCAA title. Challenging for the title will be Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State who made the R12 at the NCAA's last year, last year's ACC champion Blaise Butler of Virginia and Duke's Immanuel Kerr-Brown
165 - Potential national champion Nick Sulzer of Virginia looks to pretty much dominate this weight class, but I will put out a small possibility of an upset out of North Carolina's John Staudenmayer, and an even smaller possibility of an upset out of Virginia Tech's Chris Moon.
174 - All American Tyler Wilps will most likely add another ACC title to his resume as he finishes up next year for the Panthers. Peter Renda of North Carolina State and Austen Gabel of Virginia Tech will sort it out for 2nd place.
184 - A weight class heavily dominated by seniors last year, Panther Max Thomusseit looks to have his weight class all to himself in the ACC.
197 - After last year's NCAA tournament, it would seem that Duke's Connor Hartman would be the forerunner for an ACC title, but let's keep in mind that it was Virginia's Zach Nye that handed him a loss at last year's ACC tournament and his match with Pittsburgh's Nick Bonaccorsi was rather close. This weight class could be much more competitive than initially anticipated.
HWT - Returning NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski should have no problem at all winning another title for the Wolf Pack, meeting him in the finals will most likely be Virginia Tech's Ty Walz.
The ACC has continuously grown tougher and tougher as a conference year in and year out. All six teams ought to have at least two representatives at the NCAA's this year. It's rewarding as a fan to see Duke, consistently send wrestlers to the NCAA tournament year after year, especially considering the circumstances that Glen Lanham has had to deal with. Thumbs up to assistants Ben Wissel, Will Rowe and Jake Patacsil in contributing to the Blue Devils improvement.
133 - I'm sure that sophomore Hokie Dustin Gustafson would like to add another title to his credentials, and he may very well do just that, but I think this year's ACC championship is going to belong to Virginia's George DiCamillo who returns after a redshirt season.
141 - One of the tougher weights in the ACC, the fight for the title will be between Virginia Tech's Devin Carter and North Carolina's Evan Henderson, with a not-so dark horse prediction of Pittsburgh's Edgar Bright being in the hunt as well. Bright, as you may recall defeated Henderson 12-5 in the ACC semi-finals last season. Also look for Qualifications out of North Carolina State's Sam Speno and Virginia's Joey Spisak.
149 - Pittsburgh's Mike Racciato and Virginia's Gus Sako both seem to be the forerunners of the weight class, but I wouldn't put it past Tar Heel Christian Barber to bring home a title for the Tarheels either. I'll even go as far as to say that I can see Brian Hamann possibly making the finals as well. Although he had a terrible ACC tournament last season, he has shown his ability to wrestle very well.
157 - Yet another weight, that I think will be dominated by the return of a wrestler off of a redshirt. I look for Virginia Tech's Nick Brascetta to have a standout season, and win the ACC title this year. He may even challenge for the NCAA title. Challenging for the title will be Thomas Gantt of North Carolina State who made the R12 at the NCAA's last year, last year's ACC champion Blaise Butler of Virginia and Duke's Immanuel Kerr-Brown
165 - Potential national champion Nick Sulzer of Virginia looks to pretty much dominate this weight class, but I will put out a small possibility of an upset out of North Carolina's John Staudenmayer, and an even smaller possibility of an upset out of Virginia Tech's Chris Moon.
174 - All American Tyler Wilps will most likely add another ACC title to his resume as he finishes up next year for the Panthers. Peter Renda of North Carolina State and Austen Gabel of Virginia Tech will sort it out for 2nd place.
184 - A weight class heavily dominated by seniors last year, Panther Max Thomusseit looks to have his weight class all to himself in the ACC.
197 - After last year's NCAA tournament, it would seem that Duke's Connor Hartman would be the forerunner for an ACC title, but let's keep in mind that it was Virginia's Zach Nye that handed him a loss at last year's ACC tournament and his match with Pittsburgh's Nick Bonaccorsi was rather close. This weight class could be much more competitive than initially anticipated.
HWT - Returning NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski should have no problem at all winning another title for the Wolf Pack, meeting him in the finals will most likely be Virginia Tech's Ty Walz.
The ACC has continuously grown tougher and tougher as a conference year in and year out. All six teams ought to have at least two representatives at the NCAA's this year. It's rewarding as a fan to see Duke, consistently send wrestlers to the NCAA tournament year after year, especially considering the circumstances that Glen Lanham has had to deal with. Thumbs up to assistants Ben Wissel, Will Rowe and Jake Patacsil in contributing to the Blue Devils improvement.