The marquee home match of the season (and the highlight of the first semester slate … they wrestle at No. 2 Ohio State Jan. 6 with ESPN2 providing TV coverage) is coming up Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Reynolds, when the No. 7 Wolfpack host No. 11 Nebraska.
You'll probably see @PackWrestle pushing it hard on social media, but this is a phenomenal matchup that I expect that college wrestling world to be interested in. I prefer to use Flo's rankings, and this is the ranked vs. ranked matchups (or near-ranked vs. ranked bouts) we could see according to their top 20s:
125: No. 6 Sean Fausz vs. No. 12 Zeke Moisey
Moisey was an NCAA finalist in 2015 and managed to finish eighth last year for WVU. He's battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his career, but if we see Fausz, this is a big-time match. Head coach Pat Popolizio said on the most recent podcast we would see Fausz wrestle before the new year, and I have to imagine this is the bout he had in mind. Off the top of my head, rankings be damned, I'd say this would unquestionably be the best win of Fausz' career — I think the only AA he's previously beaten is UVA's Jack Mueller, and Moisey is a 2x AA and former NCAA finalist.
141: No. 17 Jamal Morris vs. No. 15 Chad Red
I haven't really research Nebraska much yet, but I was downright shocked to see Red listed at No. 15. Red finished seventh nationally to become an All-American as a redshirt freshman last year but is 12-4 on the year. All the losses were by two points or less, and I'd say Red is, at worst, among the 10 most talented wrestlers at his weight class nationally. However, his record this year shows he's human. One of his losses was to UVA's Samuel Krivus, a guy I'd say is on roughly the same level of Morris (some of his losses were worse than that, too). Although Morris beat ODU's Sa'Derian Perry when he was ranked ninth nationally, I think this would also rank as Morris' best-ever win if he can pull it off.
157: No. 3 Hayden Hidlay vs. No. 4 Tyler Berger
Last year, Hidlay was unranked until he beat Berger for his first big college win of the season in the dual. That rocketed him up the rankings, and Hidlay beat him again (3-2) at NCAAs in his closest match of the tournament before falling in the national finals. Berger wound up placing third. So these guys are obviously very familiar with each other and are two of the best in the country.
165: No. 19 Thomas Bullard vs. No. 5 Isaiah White
White is an interesting story — he was the Division II national champion as a true freshman, then transferred to Nebraska, where he lost in the NCAA blood round last year. He's a good bet to break through to the podium this season. Again, keeping with the theme established earlier, safe to say this would be Bullard's biggest win of his career so far.
174: NR Daniel Bullard vs. No. 9 Mikey Labriola
I included Daniel Bullard because he's just outside the top 20 and he just fell out of the national rankings after opening the year at No. 18. Again, this is a golden opportunity for the biggest win of his college career to date. Labriola is a hotshot redshirt freshman who was ranked No. 5 overall in the class of 2017. Including last year when he redshirted, he's 29-4 in college and all four losses were to quality competitors who were all in the top 20ish, at worst.
184: No. 7 Nick Reenan vs. No. 3 Taylor Venz
Hidlay-Berger is a huge deal with 3 vs. 4, but this might be my pick for the best match. Reenan is wrestling like a man possessed this year, while Venz is coming off a fourth-place NCAA finish as a redshirt freshman. He was really impressive when he majored Pete Renda at NCAAs. Both of these guys were top-100 recruits in 2016 — Reenan was No. 4, Venz was No. 96 — but Venz was the first to All-American (granted, Reenan wrestled as a true frosh while Venz redshirted first). Still, Venz is battle tested and proven (not that Reenan isn't) and this is a huge opportunity for Reenan to make a national splash and climb up the rankings to where I think he showed he deserves to be.
197: NR Malik McDonald vs. No. 8 Eric Schultz
Again, I included McDonald because he is right on the cusp of the national rankings (and is still ranked 19th by InterMat) and a win here would squarely place him in everybody's top 20 once again. Schultz is a redshirt sophomore who went 2-2 at NCAAs last year, so that will be no easy task.
Without looking too heavily into what Nebraska has at 133 and 149, I'd say NC State's Tariq Wilson and Justin Oliver — both ranked No. 4 in the land — are big favorites. It's worth noting that Nebraska's 133 Tucker Sjomeling is not one to be looked past, evidenced by his win over current No. 12 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) earlier this year.
At heavyweight, your guess is as good as mine. Nebraska has wrestled two different guys this year there, and while we've seen Deonte Wilson in every dual so far at heavyweight for the Wolfpack, I noted after the App State match a change wouldn't surprise me … and that was before freshman Colin Lawler posted a top-10 win this past weekend at an open tournament. No inside info., just speculating. We'll see what the probables look like later this week on GoPack.
Of course, if you can't be there … tune in on ACC Network Extra (aka ESPN3)!
You'll probably see @PackWrestle pushing it hard on social media, but this is a phenomenal matchup that I expect that college wrestling world to be interested in. I prefer to use Flo's rankings, and this is the ranked vs. ranked matchups (or near-ranked vs. ranked bouts) we could see according to their top 20s:
125: No. 6 Sean Fausz vs. No. 12 Zeke Moisey
Moisey was an NCAA finalist in 2015 and managed to finish eighth last year for WVU. He's battled injuries and inconsistency throughout his career, but if we see Fausz, this is a big-time match. Head coach Pat Popolizio said on the most recent podcast we would see Fausz wrestle before the new year, and I have to imagine this is the bout he had in mind. Off the top of my head, rankings be damned, I'd say this would unquestionably be the best win of Fausz' career — I think the only AA he's previously beaten is UVA's Jack Mueller, and Moisey is a 2x AA and former NCAA finalist.
141: No. 17 Jamal Morris vs. No. 15 Chad Red
I haven't really research Nebraska much yet, but I was downright shocked to see Red listed at No. 15. Red finished seventh nationally to become an All-American as a redshirt freshman last year but is 12-4 on the year. All the losses were by two points or less, and I'd say Red is, at worst, among the 10 most talented wrestlers at his weight class nationally. However, his record this year shows he's human. One of his losses was to UVA's Samuel Krivus, a guy I'd say is on roughly the same level of Morris (some of his losses were worse than that, too). Although Morris beat ODU's Sa'Derian Perry when he was ranked ninth nationally, I think this would also rank as Morris' best-ever win if he can pull it off.
157: No. 3 Hayden Hidlay vs. No. 4 Tyler Berger
Last year, Hidlay was unranked until he beat Berger for his first big college win of the season in the dual. That rocketed him up the rankings, and Hidlay beat him again (3-2) at NCAAs in his closest match of the tournament before falling in the national finals. Berger wound up placing third. So these guys are obviously very familiar with each other and are two of the best in the country.
165: No. 19 Thomas Bullard vs. No. 5 Isaiah White
White is an interesting story — he was the Division II national champion as a true freshman, then transferred to Nebraska, where he lost in the NCAA blood round last year. He's a good bet to break through to the podium this season. Again, keeping with the theme established earlier, safe to say this would be Bullard's biggest win of his career so far.
174: NR Daniel Bullard vs. No. 9 Mikey Labriola
I included Daniel Bullard because he's just outside the top 20 and he just fell out of the national rankings after opening the year at No. 18. Again, this is a golden opportunity for the biggest win of his college career to date. Labriola is a hotshot redshirt freshman who was ranked No. 5 overall in the class of 2017. Including last year when he redshirted, he's 29-4 in college and all four losses were to quality competitors who were all in the top 20ish, at worst.
184: No. 7 Nick Reenan vs. No. 3 Taylor Venz
Hidlay-Berger is a huge deal with 3 vs. 4, but this might be my pick for the best match. Reenan is wrestling like a man possessed this year, while Venz is coming off a fourth-place NCAA finish as a redshirt freshman. He was really impressive when he majored Pete Renda at NCAAs. Both of these guys were top-100 recruits in 2016 — Reenan was No. 4, Venz was No. 96 — but Venz was the first to All-American (granted, Reenan wrestled as a true frosh while Venz redshirted first). Still, Venz is battle tested and proven (not that Reenan isn't) and this is a huge opportunity for Reenan to make a national splash and climb up the rankings to where I think he showed he deserves to be.
197: NR Malik McDonald vs. No. 8 Eric Schultz
Again, I included McDonald because he is right on the cusp of the national rankings (and is still ranked 19th by InterMat) and a win here would squarely place him in everybody's top 20 once again. Schultz is a redshirt sophomore who went 2-2 at NCAAs last year, so that will be no easy task.
Without looking too heavily into what Nebraska has at 133 and 149, I'd say NC State's Tariq Wilson and Justin Oliver — both ranked No. 4 in the land — are big favorites. It's worth noting that Nebraska's 133 Tucker Sjomeling is not one to be looked past, evidenced by his win over current No. 12 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) earlier this year.
At heavyweight, your guess is as good as mine. Nebraska has wrestled two different guys this year there, and while we've seen Deonte Wilson in every dual so far at heavyweight for the Wolfpack, I noted after the App State match a change wouldn't surprise me … and that was before freshman Colin Lawler posted a top-10 win this past weekend at an open tournament. No inside info., just speculating. We'll see what the probables look like later this week on GoPack.
Of course, if you can't be there … tune in on ACC Network Extra (aka ESPN3)!
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