InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
brought to you byBrute Wrestling
Division I Championships
Scottrade Center
March 20-22, 2008
2007 Champion: Trent Paulson, Iowa State
Printable Bracket | Interactive Bracket
We're seeing the impact of Las Vegas with the seeds at 157 pounds, although not entirely. Typically, returning placewinners get some push when it comes to the seeds and while Gregor Gillespie won the NCAA title last season at 149 pounds, his loss to Mike Poeta of Illinois at the CKLV is a non-factor. Gillespie comes in with two losses, Poeta and C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota.
Gillespie will earn the #1 seed and Poeta the #2. Upstart Dan Vallimont of Penn State has had a tremendous season and will bring the #3 seed into St. Louis. Vallimont peaked in the rankings at #2 this season and finished second to Poeta in the Big Ten championships.
Two-time All-American Brandon Becker of Indiana will come in as the fourth seed. After being upset in the quarters of the Big Ten tournament, Becker rallied to take third and as a result, grabbed the fourth seed.
Injuries down the stretch caused Minnesota coach J Robinson to keep returning All-American C.P. Schlatter out of the lineup and also led to the Gopher senior to default to sixth place after reaching the semis in the conference tournament. Schlatter did pick up a quarterfinal win over Wisconsin's Craig Henning which sent the returning finalist to the consolation bracket where he eventually didn't qualify.
Even with a head-to-head win in the fifth-place match at the 2007 NCAA Championships, Pitt's Matt Kocher's third-place finish in the EWL sat him with the #6 seed. Kocher lost to Gillespie in the EWL semifinals.
Big 12 champion Cyler Sanderson will get the #7. Kocher beat Sanderson straight up at The Midlands. Sanderson avenged a dual meet loss to #10 seed Michael Chandler of Missouri in the Big 12 finals.
Returning All-American Jordan Leen of Cornell, like Gillespie and Sanderson, moved up to 157 this season. Leen likely lost a seed spot or two with an upset loss to Lehigh's Dave Nakasone in the EIWA finals. Leen comes in #8. That creates an 8-9 match with #9 Chase Pami of Cal Poly, the sophomore Pac-10 champion. The Pac-10 has three seeds in the Top 12 with Pami, #11 Tyler Sherfey of Boise State and #12 Josh Zupancic of Stanford, the only All-American of the three.
Sherfey takes a hit after beating Chandler twice in Las Vegas, but we know what that means.
The way the draw works out with the seeds, we can see All-Americans meet in the Round of 16 with Schlatter facing off with Zupancic.
Expect 157 to be one of the most wide-open and competitive weights in the tournament.
The Bad Draw
InterMat's close-up on wrestlers the top seeds don't want to see right off the bat.
Matt Moley, Bloomsburg -- Coming in 29-8, Moley is 4-6 against NCAA qualifiers, but two losses are to Gregor Gillespie, and has another to Jordan Leen. He beat Matt Kocher of Pitt early in the season and finished second in the EWL to Gillespie.
Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, Hofstra -- A mediocre record and season seemed to fly by the wayside as Bonilla-Bowman, a two-time NCAA qualifier, caught fire late in the season. Two wins over Drexel's All-American Ryan Hluschak, a win over EIWA champion Dave Nakasone of Lehigh and a dominant technical fall over Nebraska's Chris Oliver have given the New York native plenty of confidence coming into the NCAA Championships. Hard guy to wrestle if he's on. If he's sluggish, it might not be as bad as it could be.
Ryan Hluschak, Drexel -- Sneaking up last season as a bad draw was Hluschak. This year isn't the case, but two losses to Bonilla-Bowman down the stretch along with a loss to Binghamton's Nate Patterson likely cost the Drexel senior a seed. His style is about as unorthodox as you get ... and as we outlined last year, if you've never wrestled him before, you're in trouble.
Ryan Morningstar, Iowa -- A returning NCAA qualifier and unseeded out of the Big Ten make Morningstar a guy Iowa needs to have score points and use his experience to his advantage. He's only 5-10 against NCAA qualifiers, but wearing the Iowa singlet alone could be that much more of a difference.
Dave Nakasone, Lehigh -- Just 7-8 against NCAA qualifiers and 12 losses on the year don't make Nakasone dangerous, his late season surge does. An upset victory over Jordan Leen of Cornell in the EIWA finals might have given him the confidence he needs at the show. Nakasone's not going to score a lot of points, but he's going to be in good position and he's going to be smart.
Jared Hostetter, Millersville -- Winning 34 matches this season, Hostetter makes a return trip to the NCAA championships and has won 21 matches in a row. He doesn't make too many mistakes and shouldn't have the nerves this year he did last season.
Top 12 Seeds
1. Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro, Jr.)
2. Mike Poeta (Illinois, Jr.)
3. Dan Vallimont (Penn State, So.)
4. Brandon Becker (Indiana, Sr.)
5. C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota, Sr.)
6. Matt Kocher (Pittsburgh, Sr.)
7. Cyler Sanderson (Iowa State, So.)
8. Jordan Leen (Cornell, Jr.)
9. Chase Pami (Cal Poly, So.)
10. Michael Chandler (Missouri, Jr.)
11. Tyler Sherfey (Boise State, Jr.)
12. Josh Zupancic (Stanford, Sr.)
2007 Placement Results
(Courtesy wrestlingstats.com)
Finals: Trent Paulson (Iowa State) dec. Craig Henning (Wisconsin) 6-5
3rd: Mike Poeta (Illinois) dec. James Strouse (Hofstra) 2-1, TB.
5th: Matt Kocher (Pittsburgh) dec. C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota) 2-1.
7th: Josh Zupancic (Stanford) dec. Ryan Hluschak (Drexel) 11-10, TB.
Resources:
- Sponsors:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Featured Camps:
-
|