2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships 141 Weight Class Preview

Published on March 14, 2010 by viratas   ·   2 Comments

Wide open and anyone’s game best describes this weight

141 may be the most difficult weight to figure out this year.

The front runner in a loaded weight is a true freshman.

Cornell’s Kyle Dake (29-2) has held down the #1 spot the second half of the year and has rattled off 21 straight wins. His 2 losses, but in SV come to our #4 seed Reece Humphrey (29-3) Ohio State and Oklahoma’s #5 seed Zack Bailey (24-6).

We really think that any one of the top 12 seeds could have a chance to make a statement. The bottom half of this bracket is very tricky as well. In our opinion it is the tougher side to navigate, which bodes well for Dake on the top. Well at least at first glance. Remember the only 2 guys to beat him are both on his side. But lucky for him he will only have to go through 1 of them to make the finals.

We see some upsets happening in this weight. You may agree or disagree but either way 141 should be very entertaining from a fans perspective.

Round 1

The first match should prove to be a decent test for our #1 seed Dake who will take on Missouri’s Todd Schavrien (26-10). Dake has beaten him this year. The real fireworks should start in round 2.

Round 2

Here we go, now we should start seeing some interesting match ups.

Look for #9 Levi Jones (17-8) of Boise State should face off against #8 Alex Krom (20-5) of Mryland. Jones has been struggling some as of late, but look for him to step up his game at nationals.

The next match up is our first real upset pick. Oklahoma’s Bailey will run into Adin Duenas (20-8) of CSU Fullerton. Duenas has been wrestling very well and we see him winning an exciting one here.

Another match that interests us here is #11 Chris Diaz (29-4) of VT and Iowa’s #6 Montel Marion (23-5). This could be an early test for Marion. Although we pick Marion to win here, we also would not be shocked if Diaz knocks him off.

The final match to keep an eye on for us is the match between #7 Filip Novachkov (23-6) of Cal Poly and #10 Tyler Nauman (33-3) of Pitt. We really like Nauman here and think he may end up as the surprise guy of this weight.

Round 3 (Quarterfinals)

Look for Dake and Krom to square off here. Although that sounds like something out of the Movie TRON it is most likely our quarterfinal match up. We see Dake coming through here.

In what may be one of the more exciting matches to watch this round, we see Duenas and Humphrey competing here and Humphrey getting past in a tight one.

Moving to the bottom side we should see #3 Thorn (24-5) of MN stepping out against Marion for, yes you guessed it, Thorn vs. Marion IV. This match promises to be just as crazy as the first 3. Thorn owns a Major and a fall over Marion, while Marion has a Major over Thorn. Generally you see a bunch of close matches between guys so equally matched. But that is not the case with these two. It appears its all or nothing when they compete. We are going with Thorn in this one.

(Upset Alert) In the second quarter of the bottom bracket we look for Nauman and Parks to match up. This may not be popular but we are going with Nauman and the upset in this match up. Nauman has been very tough. Just to make a note, we will not be shocked if Parks wins either.

Round 4 (Semifinals)

The first one should have a great match up with Dake and Humphrey. Although Dake has been impressive, we like Humphrey winning what should be a match full of scoring. Hump sneaks by in a high scoring affair.

In the second semifinal we have Thorn and Nauman. We think this plays out different then the top side and see Thorn winning in a low scoring match by 1 or 2.

Finals

Humphrey vs. Thorn III will be a rubber match for these guys. Technically, we see this one as a toss up. But, we have to actually pick a winner otherwise this whole article would really be pointless. Co-Champs? No I am kidding. We think MN gets its 2nd National Champ of the night in Thorn.

Dark horses

1. Tyler Nauman (Pitt)
2. Adin Duenas (CSU Fullerton)
3. Michael Mangrum (Oregon State)

TOM’s Picks

1. Thorn
2. Humphrey
3. Parks