InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
brought to you byBrute Wrestling
Division I Championships
Scottrade Center
March 20-22, 2008
Returning Champion: Mark Perry, Iowa
Printable Bracket | Interactive Bracket
Another weight in which a returning finalist isn't the top seed. In fact, it's the returning champion who isn't the top seed. Iowa's Mark Perry hasn't been as erratic as many feel, because while he did lose in the Big Ten finals to Eric Tannenbaum, it's not his first loss lifetime to the Michigan senior.
Tannenbaum will get the #1 seed while Perry will follow with the #2, the same position he won the NCAA title last year. While Tannenbaum is looking to become a four-time All-American, Perry rises to another level at the NCAAs.
The rest of the top seeds have limited experience, as sophomore Nick Marable from Missouri makes his first NCAA tournament appearance after winning the Big 12 title. Marable saw a good amount of time last year and has made the most of his first full season in the starting lineup.
One of two freshmen in the Top 12 is fourth-seeded Mack Lewnes of Cornell. A 32-match winner, Lewnes has adapted well to Division I after spending a year at the Olympic Training Center after high school.
The #5-12 seeds are a solid mix and very balanced. Lewnes could see the winner of the #5-#12 match between Big 12 runner-up Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska and EWL champion Jarrod King of Edinboro. King makes his first NCAA tournament appearance for Edinboro after starting his career at Oklahoma.
Sixth-seeded Jon Reader of Iowa State is the other freshman in the Top 12, joining Lewnes. Reader will potentially see a Round of 16 match with 11th-seeded Kurt Gross of Kent State, one of two MAC wrestlers to earn seeds.
The other MAC seed is ninth-seeded Trevor Stewart of Central Michigan. Stewart will likely have an 8-9 match with #8 Moza Fay of Northern Iowa, the only seeded wrestler of the nine who Brad Penrith will bring to St. Louis.
Awaiting Perry in the quarters could be #7 Jake Dieffenbach of Oklahoma State, a two-time NAIA champion who has a win over Perry during the season or #10 Mike Cannon of American. Cannon was seeded last year and finished third in the EIWA. Dieffenbach beat Cannon back in November at the Northeast Duals.
The Bad Draw
InterMat's close-up on wrestlers the top seeds don't want to see right off the bat.
Keegan Mueller, North Carolina -- A bad conference tournament kept Mueller from reaching the NCAAs last season and another bad tournament, albeit in the finals, didn't keep him out this year. Mueller was ranked in the Top 10 coming into the ACC tournament and that upset loss to Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly likely cost him a seed. He's got the ability to open up and score points in bunches. Don't be surprised if he earns an "upset" or two in St. Louis.
Pat Pitsch, Arizona State -- Not the season Pat Pitsch would have imagined after he started the season ranked in the Top 3 and participated in the All-Star Classic. But Pitsch, a questionable #1 seed in the Pac-10 Tournament, regained his form, won the conference tournament. Pitsch won't have to contend with Edinboro's Deonte Penn this season -- the wrestler that eliminated Pitsch from All-American contention the last two seasons in the Round of 12.
Matt Coughlin, Indiana -- Moving up two weights has been met with mixed results for returning All-American Matt Coughlin. Instead of two factors that make him dangerous -- being unseeded from the Big Ten -- Coughlin has the experience and the medal to go along with it. With only two wrestlers from the Big Ten seeded in the Top 12, it's a very distinct possibility Coughlin could draw a seed in the first round.
Kurt Swartz, Boise State -- The Pac-10 runner-up and is one of nine Boise State Broncos to reach the tournament. A redshirt freshman, Swartz was ranked for the majority of the season and is one of those wrestlers fans in the Midwest and East haven't seen too much of. He finished fourth in the Southern Scuffle and has won 16 of his last 17 matches to close the season.
Chris Brown, Old Dominion -- An up-and-down wrestler, Brown seems to have shaken off a mediocre mid-season by winning eight of his last nine matches and taking the CAA title. Brown's most notable victory this season came in November as he was working on a major decision against Iowa's Mark Perry before the Iowa senior was disqualified. He's wrestling well and is as athletic as anyone in the field.
Luke Manuel, Purdue -- Yeah, who are you and where did you come from? That might have been a question fans had after the unseeded Manuel finished third in the Big Ten. A quiet 25-match winner, Manuel is 5-3 against NCAA qualifiers with three of them coming at the Big Ten tournament. Say it with us -- Unseeded, Big Ten = bad draw.
Top 12 Seeds
1. Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan, Sr.)
2. Mark Perry (Iowa, Sr.)
3. Nick Marable (Missouri, So.)
4. Mack Lewnes (Cornell, Fr.)
5. Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska, So.)
6. Jon Reader (Iowa State, Fr.)
7. Jake Dieffenbach (Oklahoma State, Sr.)
8. Moza Fay (Northern Iowa, Jr.)
9. Trevor Stewart (Central Michigan, Jr.)
10. Mike Cannon (American, So.)
11. Kurt Gross (Kent State, Sr.)
12. Jarrod King (Edinboro, Jr.)
2007 Placement Results
(Courtesy wrestlingstats.com)
Finals: Mark Perry (Iowa) dec. Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State) 4-3.
3rd: Matt Pell (Missouri) FALL Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) 3:15.
5th: Travis Paulson (Iowa State) dec. Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) 5-4.
7th: Deonte Penn (Edinboro) FALL Mike Miller (Central Michigan) 4:55
Resources:
- Sponsors:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Featured Camps:
-
|