2015-2016 NCAA Team Champs Predictions/Season Lookout

[gostanford]

Last year, I thought Ohio State would easily run away with the title in the 2014-2015 NCAA Tournament. However, with an injured Hunter and Tavanello--coupled with disappointing regular season performances by Martin and Courts, my mind began to waver towards Iowa at the conclusion of the 2014-2015 Big 10 tournament....

Yet, I still picked Ohio State to win it with 105.5 pts this year a few days ago. I was off by 3.5 pts, and I certainly did not expect them to cut away from the field until I saw the quarterfinal matchups for Iowa. Kenny Courts played hero by surprising everyone with a semi-finals appearance and 5th place finish; Demas and DiJulius only combined for a disappointing 3.5 pts; the injury-plagued 2X AA younger Stieber and Ohio State heavyweight combined for 0 pts. The freshmen studs Tomasello, Bo Jordan and Kyle Snyder proved they were forreal with 1st, 3rd, and 2nd place performances, respectively. Logan Stieber cemented his legacy as he became the 4th 4-time NCAA D1 Champ in history.

Here are some take aways I learned from the 2014-2015 NCAA season and tournament...
1. The Class of 2013 and 2014 are FORREAL and do not care how many AA accolades or titles you hold. The new breed is hungry, and they are here to take over.
2. Sammie Henson solidified arguments to as why he is one of the TOP coaches in the country. I'm betting nobody picked Zeke Moisey to reach the NCAA finals, yet alone place in the top 5.
3. Cody Brewer is a BAD man. I regret picking him to place 4th. 
4. Michigan will be a contender in the upcoming seasons; Minnesota will not. 
5. I'm a California guy, I knew I-Mar would be good in college when he was still in high school..I did not expect him to receive comparisons to Cael Sanderson. Martinez is on an absolute terror as seen by his dominant, undefeated freshman campaign--breezing through James, Ness, Realbuto, Miller, Brascetta...
6. OK State comes to play at the NCAA tournament. They will return all of their 2014-2015 AA's: Kilmara, Heil, Dieringer, and Crutchmer. It also doesn't hurt that Mardsen still has another year left. A question heading forward to 2015-2016 with OK State is will Marstellar slot in at 165, if Dieringer and Crutchmer both bumping up a weight? 
7. Edinboro's Murders' Row went out with a bang! The multi-AA 3 graduating seniors left their college careers with a 3rd place team finish. 
8. Jason Tsirtsis and J'Den Cox will NOT be your next 4 timers!
9. I picked Gwiz to win again this year, and I am not sure to why so many chose against the now 2x NCAA Champ and 3x AA.
10. Penn State showed everyone that they will be back to play in the upcoming years. The 3 N's: Nolf, Nickal, and Nevills all had productive redshirt freshmen seasons. Redshirt Zain Retherford only has career losses to this year's #1 and #2 141 lbers in Logan Stieber and Mitchell Port. 3X AA and 2X finalist Megaludis will be back to test out a new, brutal 125 lb field. Morgan McIntosh is a returning Big 10 Champ and 3rd place finisher. McClutcheon and Beitz also showed some promise this year. 
11. There will be 6 returning NCAA Champs (again): Tomasello, Brewer, Martinez, Dieringer, Dean, and Gwiz.

Enough with my rambling and without further ado...
Here are my top teams for the 2015-2016 Season in no particular order...
Ohio State: Tomasello, DiJulius, Hunter Stieber, Bo Jordan, Mark Martin, Kenny Courts, Kyle Snyder and Tavanello return. Redshirts Haines and Micah Jordan look to make the line up. Incoming recruits Hayes and Myles Martin look sharp.
Michigan: Youtsey, Bruno, Fisher, Pantaleo, Murphy, Taylor Massa, Aboudaner, and Coon return. Logan Massa arrives, and don't be surprised to see him wrestle as a true freshman.
Iowa: Gilman, Clark, Sorenson, Brooks, and Burak return. Redshirt Sam Stoll should be good as are the rest of Iowa's backups--most of whom would likely start at other Divison I programs.
Penn State: Megaludis, Conaway/Gulibon, Retherford, Beitz, Nolf, Hammond, Nickal, McClutcheon, McIntosh, Nevills all return.
Oklahoma State: Kilmara, Heil, Dieringer, Crutchmer, and Mardsen return alongside Collica, Harding, and Boyd. Redshirts Marsteller and Blees look to fill the line up. The Rogers brothers are solid back ups. Coach Smith's son, Joseph will be an incoming recruit. 
Cornell: Garrett, Grey, Realbuto, Palacio, and Dean return. Watchout for back up Alex Ciscenros at 149 he was a 3X CA State champ and has been sitting behind Villalonga. 

And there you have it: My top 6 teams for the 2015-2016 season.

Also, look out for these 10 C/O 2014 freshmen who will be off their redshirt in 2015-2016:
1. OK State's Chance Marsteller (4th at Southern Scuffle)
2. Penn State's Jason Nolf (2nd at Southern Scuffle)
3. Penn State's Bo Nickal
4. Penn Stae's Nick Nevills
5. Virginia Tech's Solomon Chisko
6. Stanford's Joey McKenna (3rd at Midlands, 2nd at Junior Worlds Freestyle)
7. Northwestern's Stevan Micic
8. Arizona State's Nikko Villareal
9. Iowa's Sam Stoll
10. Ohio State's Micah Jordan

[gonehogwild]

It kills me that Mizzou can't get any love on these message boards. I have never thought they were going to be national champions at the national championships.  I knew we had a great shot at the duals, but knew at the ncaa's it would be much tougher. That prove to be true, we did not perform to our capabilty. For them to get no respect year in and year out is not called for. They have 3 returning AA's that should be ranked high and 7 returning national qualifiers. With the additions Leeth/Barnes and Butler, they stand a very good chance to make some noise this year. Again I don't think they have much of a shot to win it all,but I do think they will be in the top ten. Personally, I think they will be in they mix to bring home some hardware again this season. Mizzou doesn't get many of the top recruits, year in year out, but Smith and his coaching staff make the most out of what they get and then some.  Go Mizzou.

[stovepipe]

^^I think Alex Cisneros decided to stop competing back in April 2015. He is not on Cornell's team. Big Red followers are saying that competition to start at 149 this fall likely will be between Taylor Simaz and Joey Galasso.

[gostanford]

Oct 4, 2015 13:37:10 GMT -5 gonehogwild said:

It kills me that Mizzou can't get any love on these message boards. I have never thought they were going to be national champions at the national championships.  I knew we had a great shot at the duals, but knew at the ncaa's it would be much tougher. That prove to be true, we did not perform to our capabilty. For them to get no respect year in and year out is not called for. They have 3 returning AA's that should be ranked high and 7 returning national qualifiers. With the additions Leeth/Barnes and Butler, they stand a very good chance to make some noise this year. Again I don't think they have much of a shot to win it all,but I do think they will be in the top ten. Personally, I think they will be in they mix to bring home some hardware again this season. Mizzou doesn't get many of the top recruits, year in year out, but Smith and his coaching staff make the most out of what they get and then some.  Go Mizzou.

Mizzou definitely has a solid line-up this year and should crack into the top 8. I think I made this post before Butler transferred, but I still would keep Mizzou in the 5-8 range at the NCAA's this year. Their dual strength is strong, but I don't think they have any bonus point monsters which really make the difference at the national tournament. 
At this point: Penn St, OK State, Iowa and Ohio State are the forerunners on my list.

stovepipe Yes, I learned that earlier this year he's no longer wrestling. It's unfortunate for wrestling fans (esp. from California such as myself), but he seems to have found a new passion.