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2006 National Champion: Joe Dubuque, Indiana
Printable Bracket | Interactive Bracket (Premium Service)

Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel's the top seed and is still seeking not only his first national championship, but his first finals appearance. He's been third the previous three years and doesn't want to go down as one of the best, not just to never win one, but one of the best to never make a final. He'll be on the top side with fourth-seeded Jayson Ness. Also up top with Hazewinkel is eighth-seeded Gabe Flores of Illinois and ninth-seeded Obe Blanc of Lock Haven. Those two will meet early on in what could be a very high scoring match. Fourth-seeded Ness could see fifth-seeded Charlie Falck of Iowa in the quarters, but Falck will face Penn's EIWA champ, Matt Eveleth, a round prior.

Returning NCAA runner-up Troy Nickerson of Cornell had been out of the Cornell line-up much of the year and has beaten both third-seeded Tanner Gardner of Stanford and fourth-seeded Ness, who has been on a tear since finishing third at the Southern Scuffle and has beaten 11 straight ranked opponents heading into the tournament.. Down low, Nebraska's Paul Donahoe went into overtime with Ness this season and that's a high-quality quarterfinal, but Donahoe will likely see 11th-seeded Dave Tomasette of Hofstra, a two-time CAA champ. Angel Escobedo of Indiana gets the 7 and Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State gets the 10 with the winner hitting second-seeded Nickerson in the quarters, provided one of the bad draws (see below) doesn't pick them off first.

The Bad Draw ...

InterMat's breakdown of who the top guns don't want to see in the opening round.

Pat Castillo, Northern Illinois --- He was listed as a bad draw last year and lost a two-point match to Paul Donahoe of Nebraska in the opening round before being eliminated by Stanford's Tanner Gardner. Ranked most of the season, Castillo came out of the MAC as the tournament champion in a weight with three NCAA qualifiers.

Matt Fisk, Lehigh -- Last year's EIWA runner-up fell to fifth in the conference this year and after missing the first part of the season recovering from an injury, what better time to pick off one of the top seeds than the NCAA tournament? Fisk did end up with a 25-9 mark and is a very troublesome first round matchup for just about everyone.

Eric Hoffman, North Dakota State -- A former Junior College champ from Iowa Central, Hoffman is a solid kid that's helping coach Bucky Maughn usher in a new era in NDSU wrestling -- one on the Division I level. He's battled some of the top ranked wrestlers this season with limited success, but don't look past Hoffman.

Fernando Martinez, Army -- He loves to go for the fall and is a very good wrestler when he gets his motion going. Don't be fooled by his 10 losses this season, he's battle tested.

Steve Mytych, Drexel -- Has some good wins this year. Rides well and is tenacious and a real fun wrestler to watch. A Northampton (Pa.) grad, so you know what might be in his arsenal. Read between the lines there.

Mike Sees, Bloomsburg -- You know him from the bad draw last year when he defeated two-time runner-up Kyle Ott of Illinois. Sees, who was in contention for a Top 12 seed, is an All-American candidate regardless of not being seeded. He might be the worst draw for anyone in the opening round.

Seeds:
1. Hazewinkel, Sam (Oklahoma)
2. Nickerson, Troy (Cornell)
3. Gardner, Tanner (Stanford)
4. Ness, Jayson (Minnesota)
5. Falck, Charlie (Iowa)
6. Donahoe, Paul (Nebraska)
7. Escobedo, Angel (Indiana)
8. Flores, Gabe (Illinois)
9. Blanc, Obenson (Lock Haven)
10. Fanthorpe, Nick (Iowa State)
11. Tomasette, Dave (Hofstra)
12. Eveleth, Matt (Penn)

2006 Medal Match Results
Finals: Joe Dubuque (Indiana) dec. Troy Nickerson (Cornell) 8-3
3rd: Sam Hazewinkel (Oklahoma) dec. Nick Simmons (Michigan State) 6-2
5th: Coleman Scott (Oklahoma State) FALL Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) :58
7th: John Velez (Northwestern) dec. Tanner Gardner (Stanford) 8-2