InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A

Quick hits

Returning National Champion: Ben Askren, Missouri
Printable Bracket | Interactive Bracket (Premium Service)

With all due respect to the rest of the qualifiers and conference champions, it would take a stray disc catcher flying through the air to stop Ben Askren, the top seed, from winning his second NCAA title. Just as dominant as he was last year, the rest of the field pales in comparison to the mop-headed Askren.

Pitt's Keith Gavin and Michigan's Steve Luke come in seeded behind Askren and are on the bottom half of the bracket. The guys sitting there going "oh man" are the seeded wrestlers up top. Yes, there's the "any given day" schpiel that is common in wrestling, but can James Yonushonis of Penn State (#4), Iowa's Eric Luedke (#5), Navy's Matt Stolpinski (#8) or Columbia's Matt Palmer (#9) give Askren a challenge up top?

Down low, it's more wide open with Gavin and Luke along with Ken Cook of UC Davis (#6), Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan (#7), Jeremy Larson of Oregon State (#10) or returning All-American Matt Herrington of Penn (#11).

The Bad Draw ...

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

Nick Kozar, Drexel -- One of three CAA entries that could pull a first-round upset. Kozar's extremely tough to score on and is notorious for keeping matches close and winning them with a flurry in overtime.

Joe Lowe, UNC Greensboro -- Coach Jason Loukides' only qualifier this season settled down at 174 and won the SoCon Championship at a decent weight for the conference. 25-5 this season.

Josh Patterson, Binghamton -- True freshman and last year's Senior National Champion was on the cusp of a conference championship and we realize we use the word "dangerous" a lot when it comes to these bad draw projections, but Patterson's the kid we thought of this season when talking about bad draws.

Ken Robertson, Eastern Illinois -- One match away from placing last season, Robertson's issue has been inconsistency. Ranked in the Top 10 to start the year, he's got some good wins and some bad losses. Last year, he picked up some solid wins at the NCAA's. He's a tournament wrestler come March.

Grant Turner, Iowa State -- Getting a chance to go to the show for the first time, Turner's an unseeded wrestler from the Big 12. That, by definition, is a bad draw for opponents.

Doug Umbehauer, Rider -- Midlands runner-up and CAA champion making another trip to the NCAA's. Got that Jersey style, better beat him early, or he's going to mess up your bracket.

Seeds:
1. Askren, Ben (Missouri)
2. Gavin, Keith (Pittsburgh)
3. Luke, Steve (Michigan)
4. Yonushonis, James (Penn State)
5. Luedke, Eric (Iowa)
6. Cook, Kenneth (UC Davis)
7. Sinnott, Brandon (Central Michigan)
8. Stolpinski, Matt (Navy)
9. Palmer, Matt (Columbia)
10. Larson, Jeremy (Oregon State)
11. Herrington, Matt (Penn)
12 .Letts, Mike (Maryland)

2006 Medal Match Results
Finals: Ben Askren (Missouri) maj. dec. Jake Herbert (Northwestern) 14-2
3rd: Mark Perry (Iowa) maj. dec. Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) 11-2
5th: Matt Herrington (Penn) FALL Travis Frick (Lehigh) 6:44
7th: Jacob Klein (Neraska) dec. James Yonushonis (Penn State) 2-0