NCAA Wrestling Underdogs of the Week and More
The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which is arguably the toughest regular season college wrestling tournament in the country, took place over the weekend at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It featured 40+ Division One teams and a fuck ton of All Americans and nationally-ranked wrestlers. For me, it triggered haunting flashbacks to my redshirt freshman year of college when I had one of the worst weight cuts of my life (150+ to 133) and almost jumped off the 24th floor of the MGM to avoid having to lose the last 2 pounds before weigh-ins. After a gutsy 1-2 performance, I remember celebrating with one (1) $30 Vodka Red Bull and making the buzzed executive decision to officially retire from the 133 pound weight class and bump up to 141. But enough about me, here’s the top underdog performances of the week:
Brent Fleetwood, North Dakota State, 125 lb.
Vegas Seed (out of 12): UNSEEDED
National Ranking (FloWrestling’s Top 20): UNRANKED
This motherfucker Fleetwood did more than just break the chain in Vegas. He broke 3 different chains. The unranked, unseeded senior Bison said “bye son” to a trio of Top 10 wrestlers en route to a 4th place finish in a loaded weight class that consisted of 4 All Americans and 9 guys in the top 20.
The upsets:
1. Decision over 4TH SEED #6 Louie Hayes, Virginia 4–2
2. Decision over 5TH SEED #9 Zeke Moisey, Nebraska (2x All American and 2015 NCAA Runner Up, 3rd Team All Ear) 10–3
3. Decision over 6TH SEED #10 Travis Piotrowski, Illinois 4–0
Fun fact: ND State’s official website lists Fleetwood’s height as 5’9″, which is giant-status for a 125 pounder.
Mickey Phillippi, Pitt, 133 lb.
Vegas Seed: 6th
National Ranking: 17th
This fucking guy Mickey went into the season quiet as a mouse, but the noise he made this weekend was enough to get him banned from any church. I’m not talking about sexual misconduct, but I doubt he received any verbal consent from his opponents when he assaulted the 133 pound bracket with a pair of HUGE upsets. The 17th ranked redshirt sophomore stole wins from multiple highly-touted All Americans to advance to the finals of a loaded weight class that boasted ELEVEN wrestlers in the top 20 and 4 All Americans. Unfortunately for Phillippi, Rutgers superstar Nick Suriano (defending NCAA Runner Up at 125) brought his dirtiest Jersey filth all the way to Vegas and came away with an 11–3 major decision.
The upsets:
1. Decision over 3RD SEED #7 Ethan Lizak, Minnesota (2x All American, 2017 NCAA Runner Up at 125) 4–0
2. Decision over 2ND SEED #5 Luke Pletcher, Ohio State (All American, 4th at 133 last season) 2–1
Griffin Parriot, Purdue, 157 lb.
Vegas Seed: 8th
National Ranking: 18th
Expelliarmus! Wingardium Leviosa! 10 points for Griffin-dor! Griffin Parriot busted out the magic with two big time upsets over Top 10 opponents, which helped Purdue finish Top 10 in the team standings. Coming into Vegas as just the 8th seed, The sophomore Boilermaker ran a train on the 157 pound bracket before crashing into Northwestern’s #6 ranked Ryan Deakin in the finals and giving up an 8–2 decision.
The upsets:
1. Decision over 1ST SEED #4 Tyler Berger, Nebraska (2x All American) 4–2
2. Decision over 5TH SEED #10 Taleb Rahmani, Pitt 5–3
Jay Aiello, Virginia, 197 lb.
Vegas Seed: UNSEEDED
National Ranking: UNRANKED
The redshirt sophomore from UVA didn’t even finesse a Top 12 seed but came home with not one, not two, not three, not four, not fi…just kidding, he had FOUR wins over nationally-ranked Top 15 guys. Jay made about as much noise as Silent Bob last season with an underwhelming 13-15 record, but after a RAUCOUS weekend in Sin City, look for him to be mentioned in 2019 All American chatter.
The upsets:
1. Decision over 2ND SEED #8 Nathan Traxler, Stanford 5–4
2. Major decision over 6TH SEED #17 Tom Sleigh, Virginia Tech 9–1
3. Decision over 5TH SEED #10 Christian Brunner, Purdue 9–5
4. Decision over 2ND SEED #8 Nathan Traxler, Stanford 4–2
Larry Early, Old Dominion, 157 lb.
Dual Match: NC State at Old Dominion
National Ranking: 9th
The upset: Decision over #2 Hayden Hidlay, NC State (2018 NCAA Runner Up) 4–2
Last season, Larry Early placed 4th at the MAC championships and relied on an at-large bid to qualify for the NCAA tournament at 157 pounds, where he went 2–2 and failed to place. Conversely, Hidlay had a phenomenal freshman year and went undefeated all the way until the NCAA finals, where he lost a respectable 6–2 decision to Penn State’s 2x NCAA Champ and genetic anomaly, Jason Nolf. So yes, I’d consider this a fairly gigantic upset, but it also looks like Early is finding his stride this season and showing his true upside as a blue chip recruit out of high school.
Side note: Look at this man’s ears. It appears that I might have slighted him for the 2018–2019 All Ear Team
On A (Pork) Roll
New Jersey natives went (Taylor) HAM in the finals at Vegas, going back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the first four matches and claiming 5 out of the 10 titles.
125: #2 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. #3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) 6–4 SV
Rivera (Jackson, NJ) and Bresser lived up to the hype and delivered with a thrilling overtime finals match. Both were All Americans (Rivera placed 6th and Bresser placed 7th at 125 last season), and both have solidified themselves as villainous monsters. Bresser made BOISTEROUS noise last December when he beat Iowa phenom and eventual NCAA champ, Spencer Lee in the Midlands semi finals. HOWEVER, Spencer has evolved into an entirely different species since that match, and I personally don’t see a single soul taking him out all season. Not even by accident.
Rivera is an offensive juggernaut who impressed the living shit out of me last season in his freshman debut. He beat Bresser by major decision (12–2) in the NCAA consolation quarter final round, but if you follow the NCAA tournament, then you know that consolation results tend to be particularly bizzare and lopsided. Especially in a round like the consi quarters when both guys already AA’d, so they’re just out there letting it fucking fly with zero stress. I’m 0 for 5 at attending the Saturday morning session of consolation semi finals and finals matches, but I’ve heard it’s nonstop, underrated excitement. Barring another All American hangover, I plan on attending for the first time in Pittsburgh this season.
133: #2 Nick Suriano (Rutgers; Paramus, NJ) major dec. #17 Micky Phillippi (Pitt) 11-3
The quintessential Jersey wrestler, Nick Suriano (Paramus, NJ) unsurprisingly breezed by #17 Mickey Phillipi in the finals. After making the bump from 125, Suriano seems to be fitting in SNUGLY with the fellas at 133 so far this year. He had a tough 3–2 win over First Team All Ear member and #10 John Erneste of Missouri in the semis, but Erneste is a proven problem who I’m expecting to see on the podium in March.
141: #2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. #3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) 6–2
Yet ANOTHER Jersey boy and 2x All American, Joey McKenna (Towaco, NJ) made a huge statement for the Buckeyes with this decisive 6–2 win. Eierman is the physical embodiment of danger, but McKenna is a veteran’s veteran. The technically-sound 5th year senior has spent his entire career (since the youth days) in the limelight and knows how to win big matches. These guys will be the frontrunners to dethrone #1 Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell in March.
149: #3 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. #2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) 14–10
With Ashnault (3x All American from South Plainfield, NJ) coming up from 141 and Jordan (2x All American) coming down from 157, it was hard to tell how these two redshirt seniors would match up with each other. Shocking to some, Ashnault jumped to a wild 10-0 lead, thanks to his stellar top game and a handful of back points. Jordan went Jordan late in the match but ultimately fell 14-10. Personally, I’d take both of these guys over #1 Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton, but don’t quote me on that.
ALL FINAL RESULTS AND BRACKETS
Wrestling fans are witnessing history in real time with this “kid” Gable Stevenson. The true freshman heavyweight specimen dominated his way to a title at Vegas. Look for a plethora of gold medals in his not so distant future.
The “Penn State Award” for Most Dominant Team of the Week
Penn State
The Nittany Lions roared past Bucknell 43-3 on Friday and blanked #13 Lehigh 42-0 on Sunday. What this team is doing, and has been doing the last few years, deserves way more attention from the sports world.
Bravo, Young Man
Penn State’s Roman Bravo-Young went McKayla Maroney in his 133 pound match against Lehigh’s Brandon Paetzell on Sunday. He ended up picking up a 13-5 major decision and securing a spot on S****C*****’s Top 10 Plays. In typical Penn State fashion, the true freshman out of Tucson, Arizona is off to a 6-0 start with all of those wins coming by bonus points.
The “What The Fuck” Match of the Week
SIUE Cougar Clash Quarter Finals: Alex Hopkins, Army pins Mason Giordano, Cleveland State 0:03
Fucking huh? 3 seconds? I didn’t get to see any footage of this alleged 3 second pin, so I’m still not sure if it was legit, but I don’t think a fine establishment like Army would make something up.
#3 Iowa 19, Iowa State 18
Going into this match, the Hawkeyes won the last FOURTEEN and have absolutely fucking dominated Iowa State the past five years with lopsided scores of 35–6, 26–9, 33–6, 28–8, and 23–9, respectively. But on Saturday, the unranked Cyclones just missed hitting Carver Hawkeye Arena with a natural disaster of an upset.