The FloWrestling Podcast did an interesting thing at the end of last week, where they started talking about who the best dual meet teams in the country were (for 2020-21 season) and how they would stack up against one another?
First, a little background … last year, NC State finished undefeated and No. 3 in the coaches' poll (and doesn't lose a single starter). No. 1 Iowa looked unbeatable, and Penn State had a loss but finished second.
The hypothesis right now is Iowa will be heads and shoulders above everybody else once again. Well, the FloWrestling podcast guys then started talking about who is No. 2, and there's a solid grouping of teams in that second tier behind Iowa that are all very, very close to one another. (Side note: I broke down NC State in Flo's 2020-21 individual rankings here — cliff notes version: NC State had four ranked among top 7 and nine of 10 starters in top 25, and the 10th guy has been previously ranked, sometimes very highly, but wrestled injured for the last 1.5 years - Nick Reenan … but Iowa had all 10 starters in top 10, including six in the top four).
Anyway, the podcasters, which include former UFC fighter and national champion wrestler Ben Askren, talked about a hypothetical dual tourney of the second-tier teams … I thought it was kind of fun and they had interesting things to say, so some of the notes:
• The second tier of teams is a close race for second among NC State, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan and Cornell (the latter of whom is supposed to wrestle in Raleigh this year … that will be an incredible match if both teams are at full strength).
• First, they pitted NC State up against Michigan, who is a kinda quiet team to break out and make serious noise at NCAAs next year if they are at full strength (no guarantee, they had several take Olympic redshirts last year and could do so again this year).
Anyway, these hypothetical duals are contested with lineups at full strength, so it would feature incredible matchups. Here's how they saw it going:
125 - Jakob Camacho of NC State was the unanimous pick
133 - Former NCAA runner-up Stevan Micic of Michigan was the unanimous pick
141 - Two of the three guys on the show picked NC State All-American Tariq Wilson. It's worth noting the guy that picked Joey Silva of Michigan, who was a huge blue-chip recruit, has a thing for him and they kinda joke about it on the show, so I'm not sure how serious of a pick that was. Regardless, majority went with Tariq.
149 - All went with U-M's Kanen Storr
157 - Easy pick here. Pack's Hayden Hidlay
165 - Thomas Bullard of NCSU is 7th in their 2020-21 rankings. He'd face hotshot frosh Cam Amine, who looks like a future national champion but all three guys talked themselves into Bullard using his scrambling and veteran savvy to win a close one.
174 - Another unanimous pick, with all going with Michigan's Logan Massa, however Askren made sure to point out that Daniel Bullard of the Pack could pull this upset.
184 - Trent Hidlay of NCSU was another easy pick.
197 - They project Myles Amine, a three-time All-American and former fifth-place finisher at Senior Worlds, to win here.
285 - Michigan star Mason Parris is another unanimous pick.
So, they project the match to be a 5/5 split, with all but one being unanimous choices (and I think we can even consider the one that wasn't unanimous, unanimous if they were polling anybody but the one guy).
Not for the bad news — they also decided NC State would likely lose this one on bonus points. They noted Michigan is likely getting bonus points at 133 and heavyweight, while not many obvious possibilities for the Pack in that department (me speaking here — 157 and 125 could be possible for State, but probably not likely). Also, they think Michigan has more "upset potential" to break the 5/5 tie (in two matches — 141 and 165 — vs. just one for NC State - 174).
They also did NC State vs. Penn State. Will break down how that one goes in a bit … just didn't know if people were interested in hypothetical thoughts on NC State wrestling vs. other top teams in the country. It is quarantine after all …
First, a little background … last year, NC State finished undefeated and No. 3 in the coaches' poll (and doesn't lose a single starter). No. 1 Iowa looked unbeatable, and Penn State had a loss but finished second.
The hypothesis right now is Iowa will be heads and shoulders above everybody else once again. Well, the FloWrestling podcast guys then started talking about who is No. 2, and there's a solid grouping of teams in that second tier behind Iowa that are all very, very close to one another. (Side note: I broke down NC State in Flo's 2020-21 individual rankings here — cliff notes version: NC State had four ranked among top 7 and nine of 10 starters in top 25, and the 10th guy has been previously ranked, sometimes very highly, but wrestled injured for the last 1.5 years - Nick Reenan … but Iowa had all 10 starters in top 10, including six in the top four).
Anyway, the podcasters, which include former UFC fighter and national champion wrestler Ben Askren, talked about a hypothetical dual tourney of the second-tier teams … I thought it was kind of fun and they had interesting things to say, so some of the notes:
• The second tier of teams is a close race for second among NC State, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan and Cornell (the latter of whom is supposed to wrestle in Raleigh this year … that will be an incredible match if both teams are at full strength).
• First, they pitted NC State up against Michigan, who is a kinda quiet team to break out and make serious noise at NCAAs next year if they are at full strength (no guarantee, they had several take Olympic redshirts last year and could do so again this year).
Anyway, these hypothetical duals are contested with lineups at full strength, so it would feature incredible matchups. Here's how they saw it going:
125 - Jakob Camacho of NC State was the unanimous pick
133 - Former NCAA runner-up Stevan Micic of Michigan was the unanimous pick
141 - Two of the three guys on the show picked NC State All-American Tariq Wilson. It's worth noting the guy that picked Joey Silva of Michigan, who was a huge blue-chip recruit, has a thing for him and they kinda joke about it on the show, so I'm not sure how serious of a pick that was. Regardless, majority went with Tariq.
149 - All went with U-M's Kanen Storr
157 - Easy pick here. Pack's Hayden Hidlay
165 - Thomas Bullard of NCSU is 7th in their 2020-21 rankings. He'd face hotshot frosh Cam Amine, who looks like a future national champion but all three guys talked themselves into Bullard using his scrambling and veteran savvy to win a close one.
174 - Another unanimous pick, with all going with Michigan's Logan Massa, however Askren made sure to point out that Daniel Bullard of the Pack could pull this upset.
184 - Trent Hidlay of NCSU was another easy pick.
197 - They project Myles Amine, a three-time All-American and former fifth-place finisher at Senior Worlds, to win here.
285 - Michigan star Mason Parris is another unanimous pick.
So, they project the match to be a 5/5 split, with all but one being unanimous choices (and I think we can even consider the one that wasn't unanimous, unanimous if they were polling anybody but the one guy).
Not for the bad news — they also decided NC State would likely lose this one on bonus points. They noted Michigan is likely getting bonus points at 133 and heavyweight, while not many obvious possibilities for the Pack in that department (me speaking here — 157 and 125 could be possible for State, but probably not likely). Also, they think Michigan has more "upset potential" to break the 5/5 tie (in two matches — 141 and 165 — vs. just one for NC State - 174).
They also did NC State vs. Penn State. Will break down how that one goes in a bit … just didn't know if people were interested in hypothetical thoughts on NC State wrestling vs. other top teams in the country. It is quarantine after all …
