Bracket thoughts

[osu2082]

The NCAA sees more upheaval and "upsets" each and every year as for the most part there is more parity across the board than ever before.

Saying that, our two #1 seeds received very good draws on paper. Fix stays away from Micic and Suriano who are the other two most talented guys at the weight. He also stays away from Desanto and Wilson who are both extremely dangerous.

Phillipi was his only loss but I don't think the rematch will be a major threat.

White getting the 1 is massive. No Gable or Cassar until the finals. Dhesi a very talented and dangerous guy and is also on the other side. Paris is way overseeded at 5 and Wood is a guy White has beaten both times they have wreslted.

Weigel getting the 3 was also massive as it keeps him away from Nickal until a potential finals matchup. Micklas is his quarters matchup and we saw how that went on Sunday. Moore will be a tough out but rather him than Nickal for a chance at the finals.

Picc got the toughest seed of our top guys. Fausz (who beat him last year), Glory who really gave him trouble and Lee who is the defending NC and does have a style that gives Picc trouble despite the pin in Stillwater. I still see Picc and Lee squaring off Friday night.

I really like Jacobe's draw and of the top 3 Lewis is the guy you want to see. Not having to match up with Hall or Zahid is great and honestly Amine IMO is tougher matchup for him than Lewis.

G all comes down to health. If he has a full healthy week of preparation then he is dangerous in this bracket. Lugo can be beaten and then Jordan while a very talented wrestler can be ridden and reversed. I don't love that matchup but G's funk could give Jordan problems.

Geer will have his work cut out for him. Reenan hasn't wrestled much and has been up and down this year.

Kaid and Joe will have a very tough hill to climb but both of their seasons pointed to this being the likely case. Both will need to do work on the backside to have a shot at an AA. Boy I can't imagine the Iowa fans or Brands brothers are happy about seeing Joe in R1.

Should be a great weekend of wrestling here in a little over a week!

 

[Wrassler17]

Haven't looked at the brackets yet (have only seen the seeds), but a lot of good points made here.

 

[OSU48]

I wonder if Joe Smith didnt get an ideal seed if he wants to maximize the teams chances. Gets to be a hero in round one and hop on marinelli path to the finals.

 

[Kingk0ng]

I wonder if Joe Smith didnt get an ideal seed if he wants to maximize the teams chances. Gets to be a hero in round one and hop on marinelli path to the finals.

Yup, win that match and he is now the #1 seed.

 

[Air_Thurman]

I hate, hate, hate Picc’s draw. Outside of that I think we did pretty well. Kaid and Joe got brutal draws but that is what you would expect with their years.

 

[osu2082]

I hate, hate, hate Picc’s draw. Outside of that I think we did pretty well. Kaid and Joe got brutal draws but that is what you would expect with their years.

I think the writing was on the wall he would get Lee again but the Glory matchup makes me very nervous. Glory controlled that match on the feet and just beat Vito in the confernce finals.

I'm not worried about Fausz this year.

 

[BigD_cowboy]

I think the writing was on the wall he would get Lee again but the Glory matchup makes me very nervous. Glory controlled that match on the feet and just beat Vito in the confernce finals.

I'm not worried about Fausz this year.

If lee holds the 3-0 lead in the 3rd period of big ten finals (which is usually automatic) pic is 1 seed and lee is on other side of bracket. Pic will be up for the challenge, I expect him to meet lee on Friday night as well.

 

[Air_Thurman]

My seeding rant. Disclaimer: I don't think we got screwed. I think Joe, Jacobe and Greer were seeded completely fair based on the current system. That being said...

There is a lot of hand wring in college wrestling about the duals. A lot of coaches just don't care about them and sit guys throughout the year to protect seeding. John takes the opposite approach. He put forward our best dual lineup all year seeding be damned. In principle, I 100% agree with John. I think duals should still be important and coaches should be their best lineup forward each week. I think it is good for the sport.

Logically though John is wrong. For NCAAs we would have been much better if we just put guys where they were going to be at NCAAs and taking our lumps at 197.

It shouldn't be this way. It should be easy to at least give guys like Joe, Jacobe and Greer some credit for stuff they did at other weights in the seeding. I think coaches should be encouraged to tinker with their lineup for dual season. It is good for the sport. I just think we are getting really close to the point where the regular season is going to come down to trying to game the seeding matrix and the team aspect of duals is over.

 

[derek_state]

Someone please explain how Joe didn’t get the 32 overall seed. I mean come’on

 

[Air_Thurman]

Someone please explain how Joe didn’t get the 32 overall seed. I mean come’on

I have no idea if this is true or not, but on a recent Flo podcast (before seeds were announced) one of the guys said that while everyone has a seed, something like 28-33, are still randomly drawn.

 

[Mrgrapple]

Some of the seeds were ridiculous. But seeds do not place people wrestling does. GO POKES !!!

 

[Wrassler17]

My seeding rant. Disclaimer: I don't think we got screwed. I think Joe, Jacobe and Greer were seeded completely fair based on the current system. That being said...

There is a lot of hand wring in college wrestling about the duals. A lot of coaches just don't care about them and sit guys throughout the year to protect seeding. John takes the opposite approach. He put forward our best dual lineup all year seeding be damned. In principle, I 100% agree with John. I think duals should still be important and coaches should be their best lineup forward each week. I think it is good for the sport.

Logically though John is wrong. For NCAAs we would have been much better if we just put guys where they were going to be at NCAAs and taking our lumps at 197.

It shouldn't be this way. It should be easy to at least give guys like Joe, Jacobe and Greer some credit for stuff they did at other weights in the seeding. I think coaches should be encouraged to tinker with their lineup for dual season. It is good for the sport. I just think we are getting really close to the point where the regular season is going to come down to trying to game the seeding matrix and the team aspect of duals is over.

Good post. I think there are a couple of things here...

On the lineup moves, John has said he wasn't sure Preston would make it back this year, so that was the reason for the weight shifts. I've posted before that I probably would have just inserted Marsden at 197. But the coaches believed Joe/Jacobe/Dakota could be effective up, especially without cutting weight. It also potentially solved the log jam.

Fundamentally though, I think John has a different philosophy than most coaches regarding duals vs Nationals. And also at wrestling at less than 100%. I'm not talking about wrestling injured, just fighting thru the bumps & bruises. Cael not only had Rasheed MFF at Big10s, he also had Berge MFF both matches on day 2. Rasheed missed Myles Martin at the tOSU dual. Brands managed Spencer & Stoll carefully all year. Young missed Deakin at the Northwestern dual. Conversely, look at G. He was obviously banged up a little against AF. No one would have been surprised to see him skip the Mizzou & Iowa duals. If he did, he's probably the #3 seed with a much easier path to the semis. Different outlook & approach.

 

[ionel]

Someone please explain how Joe didn’t get the 32 overall seed. I mean come’on

so 32 would be better than 33?

 

[Janderson123]

Someone please explain how Joe didn’t get the 32 overall seed. I mean come’on

He didn't wrestle at the weight all year, and when he did, he performed relatively poorly.

 

[birdman1117]

The NCAA sees more upheaval and "upsets" each and every year as for the most part there is more parity across the board than ever before.

Saying that, our two #1 seeds received very good draws on paper. Fix stays away from Micic and Suriano who are the other two most talented guys at the weight. He also stays away from Desanto and Wilson who are both extremely dangerous.

Phillipi was his only loss but I don't think the rematch will be a major threat.

White getting the 1 is massive. No Gable or Cassar until the finals. Dhesi a very talented and dangerous guy and is also on the other side. Paris is way overseeded at 5 and Wood is a guy White has beaten both times they have wreslted.

Weigel getting the 3 was also massive as it keeps him away from Nickal until a potential finals matchup. Micklas is his quarters matchup and we saw how that went on Sunday. Moore will be a tough out but rather him than Nickal for a chance at the finals.

Picc got the toughest seed of our top guys. Fausz (who beat him last year), Glory who really gave him trouble and Lee who is the defending NC and does have a style that gives Picc trouble despite the pin in Stillwater. I still see Picc and Lee squaring off Friday night.

I really like Jacobe's draw and of the top 3 Lewis is the guy you want to see. Not having to match up with Hall or Zahid is great and honestly Amine IMO is tougher matchup for him than Lewis.

G all comes down to health. If he has a full healthy week of preparation then he is dangerous in this bracket. Lugo can be beaten and then Jordan while a very talented wrestler can be ridden and reversed. I don't love that matchup but G's funk could give Jordan problems.

Geer will have his work cut out for him. Reenan hasn't wrestled much and has been up and down this year.

Kaid and Joe will have a very tough hill to climb but both of their seasons pointed to this being the likely case. Both will need to do work on the backside to have a shot at an AA. Boy I can't imagine the Iowa fans or Brands brothers are happy about seeing Joe in R1.

Should be a great weekend of wrestling here in a little over a week!

I would thing the Brands would be very happy Joe will be a tough out in the evening, But very beatable in the mornings.

 

[Air_Thurman]

I would thing the Brands would be very happy Joe will be a tough out in the evening, But very beatable in the mornings.

Man, I don't think so. Joe is a brutal matchup for a No. 1 seed in round 1. Not many No. 1s have to face off against a two-time AA right off the bat. Don't get me wrong, I think the Bull wins and maybe easily. It is still not the type of matchup you want right out of the gate.

 

[osu2082]

I would thing the Brands would be very happy Joe will be a tough out in the evening, But very beatable in the mornings.

True but as the number 1 seed facing a 2x AA in the first round is pretty unheard of.

Joe will have another two weeks to work down at weight and won't be dealing with the loss of a mentor and grandfather and regardless of the timing will not be an easy out for Marinelli.

The Brands brothers would absolutely prefer the pedigree of wreslter every other 1 seed will face in the first round.

 

[OSU48]

Lots of complaining and whining about it on the iowa wrestling board. Has it's own thread and last time I looked was 3 or 4 pages long. But i do think these kind of cases where people move around toward the end of the season are not currently handled correctly. With the history and results from this year a 33 seed doesn't seem right.

 

[OHkie]

It wasn’t technically a 33 seed, the last 4 in each bracket were randomly drawn in then assigned numbers based on where they fell, he could have been 29.

“Seeds 29-33 may be assigned randomly to the brackets but will always be paired with the top four seeds and assigned to all pigtail matches. The Division I Wrestling Committee believes the weighted selection criteria provide a clear and consistent quantitative process, enabling the committee to effectively seed the entire bracket.” - Flo

 

[chasepollard]

I've done full brackets for 25, 33, 41, 49 and half of 57...the seeds are screwed up! Not for just us (does seem partial to PSU, but not huge) but for many.

Bull got screwed and the path for the 2 seed is WAY lighter. Picc got screwed, but not as bad as Bull. There are so many instances were the lower seed has an easier path and the conference MFF situation is a joke.

Either way, should still be a blast and my brackets are wild with upsets. So far, I've got Picc at 3, Fix at 1, Brock at R12 (which sucks because he's a favorite) and GFeller at 5. That should put us in good shape, but it's like the NCAA didn't realize that Nolf and Nickal are a Top10 team by themselves, and seeded the PSU guys at these weights favorably.

 

[chasepollard]

I've done full brackets for 25, 33, 41, 49 and half of 57...the seeds are screwed up! Not for just us (does seem partial to PSU, but not huge) but for many.

Bull got screwed and the path for the 2 seed is WAY lighter. Picc got screwed, but not as bad as Bull. There are so many instances were the lower seed has an easier path and the conference MFF situation is a joke.

Either way, should still be a blast and my brackets are wild with upsets. So far, I've got Picc at 3, Fix at 1, Brock at R12 (which sucks because he's a favorite) and GFeller at 5. That should put us in good shape, but it's like the NCAA didn't realize that Nolf and Nickal are a Top10 team by themselves, and seeded the PSU guys at these weights favorably.

 

[topc22blue]

I've done full brackets for 25, 33, 41, 49 and half of 57...the seeds are screwed up! Not for just us (does seem partial to PSU, but not huge) but for many.

Bull got screwed and the path for the 2 seed is WAY lighter. Picc got screwed, but not as bad as Bull. There are so many instances were the lower seed has an easier path and the conference MFF situation is a joke.

Either way, should still be a blast and my brackets are wild with upsets. So far, I've got Picc at 3, Fix at 1, Brock at R12 (which sucks because he's a favorite) and GFeller at 5. That should put us in good shape, but it's like the NCAA didn't realize that Nolf and Nickal are a Top10 team by themselves, and seeded the PSU guys at these weights favorably.

Totally agree on conference medical forfeit junk.

 

[Wrassler17]

Saw some stuff from Nomad that the CR had Brucki @ #3 and Preston @ #4 but the seeding committee swapped them. Glad for Preston but I don't understand that one.

 

[Cowguy]

Geer seeded 8 spots below a wild card - from the same conference. There’s some true stupid in some of the seedings