2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships 157 Weight Class Preview
Published on March 15, 2010 by viratas · 3 Comments
Cha, Cha, Cha, Changing…..
The weight class that may look the most different then it did at the start of the season.
One is looking to capture his first National Title; another is looking for his second. Throw in a new comer who transferred up and a bunch of tough guys and you have the 157 lbs bracket.
The #1 seed from Harvard J.P. O’Connor (30-0) has been unbeatable this year and his record shows. There are several questions at this weight as well. Is #6 Schlatter (14-2) healthy? Has #5 Fittery (29-2) recovered fully? Can #2 Adam Hall (28-2) give a bright spot to the Boise State Season? Those are just some of the questions here. Somewhat like the 141 bracket there are numerous guys that can get the job done here.
Round 1
Two matches here stand out. The first one is when #7 Chase Pami (25-6) of Cal Poly takes on Kurt Kinser (26-7) of Indiana. Should be a good one, but we see Pami getting by.
The second interesting match up here is where #2 Hall faces Hofstra’s John Bonilla-Bowman (19-5). Although we expect Hall to win here, this is not a great first round match up for him.
Round 2
In the second round there is a good match up with Navy’s #8 Bryce Saddoris (31-10) vs. #9 Matt Moley (25-3). This should be a pretty good match to catch and we see Moley coming out on top.
Next Fittery should get a big challenge from Central Michigan’s #12 Steven Brown (13-3). Both have fought through some injuries this year, but if Fittery is on his game we see him coming out of this match up.
Next up we will see Oklahoma State’s #11 Robert Erisman (27-8) match up with Schlatter. In my opinion this match should tell us where Schlatter is with his health. If he is not at close to full strength look for a possible upset here.
The match ups continue, we should see Pami taking on Oklahoma’s #10 Shane Vernon (20-5). Pami continues his rough road against a very tough Vernon. The more I look at this weight, the more I think it may be the most balanced. Anyways, I see Pami squeaking out another win.
Finally, Hall gets yet another challenge in Oregon State’s Keegan Davis (33-10). Note that Davis has a tough first round match up with Maryland’s Kyle John (29-11). Either way Hall will see his second straight quality opponent. We think Hall gets by here.
Round 3 (Quarterfinals)
O’Connor should get his first real test here. He will face off against Moley in what should prove to be a good match for the fans. We have O’Connor coming out of this match up.
In the next quarter of the topside, we expect to see Fittery vs. Penn State’s #4 Cyler Sanderson (28-4). Interesting match up here, Sanderson looked good at the Big 10 while Fittery dropped a match in the conference tournament. We understand that this was Fittery’s first time back on the mat since his late season injury. We expect the 2 weeks will have served him well. We see Fittery coming out on top in this one.
On the bottom we see #3 Jesse Dong (34-3) of VA Tech taking on Schlatter. Considering we have no clue that Schlatter is at 100% or not, we are leaning towards Dong coming out on top of this one. If Dustin is healthy I would reverse that.
In the final quarter we see Pami and Hall matching up for the 3rd time this year. I do not see the results changing and Hall winning and moving on.
Round 4 (Semifinals)
Here we go. O’Connor vs. Fittery starts us off. We are very much looking forward to this match (of course if it plays out this way). What may be an unpopular selection and maybe somewhat of a dark horse pick, we see Fittery coming out of this one in a surprise. Now with that said, we would not be at all surprised to see O’Connor win as well. Either way I do not think this is one you will want to miss.
In the second match, we are expecting to see Dong and Hall go at it. What should be a good match I see Hall pulling through and putting himself in the finals.
Finals
If things play out like we discussed above and mind you that is a big “ifâ€, we will see Fittery vs. Hall. Our prediction is Fittery comes away a National Champion and one of the more interesting stories to come out of this year’s National Tournament.
Dark horses
1. Keegan Davis (Oregon State)
2. Thomas Scotton (North Carolina)
3. Justin Gaethje (Northern Colorado)
TOM’s Picks
1. Fittery
2. Hall
3. O’Connor
I predict Schlatter and O’Connor in the finals. And Schlatter wins by a point or two (surprise!).
This does appear to be a wide open weight this year, and O’conner and Schlatter would seem to be two obvious finalalists. Of course, watching them in the finals might be a major borefest, with their very defensive wrestling styles. If Schlatter is hurt, this could naturally impair him from every reaching the finals. I do have difficulty seeing Hall in the finals, and to some degree Fittery as well, althought for differing reasons. Sanderson isn’t really national finalist material, nor is Dong. If everyone is healthy, I say JP and Dustin.
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