2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships 133 Weight Class Preview

Published on March 13, 2010 by viratas   ·   3 Comments

National Champs, Runner-ups, new comers and one loaded weight class.

That’s your 133 bracket this year.

As we take a look at this bracket we see that this will be one tough road to plow. From the first round on, these guys will be pushed and pushed hard.

Minnesota Senior Jayson Ness (26-0) looks to grab his first National Title and many think he is a man on a mission. Of those 26 wins, 18 have been by fall. But there are numerous guys who would like to prevent that from happing.

You have a defending National Champion in Franklin Gomez (23-2) of Michigan State sitting at the 3 seed, “3 seed you say”? Yes he is, that’s because those 2 losses come at the hands of Iowa’s Daniel Dennis (18-3). But wait what about the kid from Oklahoma State that defeated Dennis? Oh, yea Freshman Jordan Oliver (28-2) is our #4 seed. This one was a bit of a head scratcher to us at The Open Mat. We thought this weight would play out a but different, but this is how the top 4 went and that is why seeds do not matter, to be a National Champ you have to win them all.

It does not end there. The rest of this bracket is loaded with land mines. We will break it down round by round.

Round 1

An interesting match up out of the gate here features #5 Borislav Novachkov (24-3) who faces off against a very tough freshman from Oklahoma in Kendric Maple (31-10). Although we expect Novachkov to get by this one, it should be a good one to watch.

Round 2

Now things get interesting and we will lay out most of these matches.

Ness should be matched up with Ohio State Freshman Ian Paddock (22-12) and this should be a good primer for Ness.
Big match up in the next one when you will get Maryland Senior #9 Steve Bell (23-5) vs. Wisconsin Freshman #8 Tyler Graff (26-7). This one should be very entertaining and in reality could go either way.

Another good match up here should pit #11 Scotti Sentes (20-7) of Central Michigan against MAC Champion and #6 Dan Mitcheff of Kent State.

Finally in this round, we most likely will see #7 Mike Grey (35-6) of Cornell square off against #10 Nicholas Franthorpe of Iowa State (16-7). This could be a key match to Cornell’s national title hunt.

Round 3 (Quarterfinals)

The first one should be Ness vs. Graff. This will be a test for Ness but we see him getting past this one.

Next, look for a big match up here with Novachkov meeting up with Oliver. This is the first real test Oliver should face in the tournament. Novachkov and Oliver split this year. I look to see Oliver to advance here.

On the lower half of the bracket we are looking at a Gomez vs. Mitcheff quarter. We see Gomez getting past this one putting him one step closer to another championship.

To round out the quarterfinals we see Grey and Dennis locking horns here. This should be a very close match up and we think Dennis comes through in a close one.

Round 4 (Semifinals)

The first one should have a great match up with Ness and Oliver going at it. Oliver is a take down expert and Ness can punish you on top. Ness counters the leg attack of Oliver and builds riding time on this one.

Dennis vs. Gomez III will take place on the bottom half of the bracket. Dennis has won both of the head to head match ups this year and we do no see that changing here.

Finals

Ness vs. Dennis III, much like the above match up Ness owns both head to head meetings. The difference has been Ness’s ability to turn Dennis and ride him. If this match plays out in a similar matter we see the same result here as well.

Dark horses

1. Brandon Low (UC Davis)
2. Steve Mytych (Drexel
3. Kelly Kubec (Oregon State)

TOM’s Picks

1. Ness
2. Dennis
3. Gomez

By The Open Mat Staff