How to watch:
ESPN3 will have all the mats.
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/sport/wrestling/type/upcoming/startDate/20160317/
There are 8 mats going at once, so to know where the Buckeye wrestlers are placed, use:
http://s300.trackwrestling.com/tw/TWHome.jsp?loadBalanced=true
Look for the grey box in the left column labeled 'Trackcast', then select '2016 NCAA Division 1 Championship'. If you did this with the B1G tourney, you know that you have to manually refresh it (or pay the fee, but honestly, just manually refresh when you need it).
First round is Thursday at 12:00 EST. All mats on ESPN3. ESPNU has some coverage, probably flipping between mats like NFL RedZone.
Second round (sweet 16) and start of consolations are Thursday night at 20:00 EST. All mats on ESPN3. ESPNU looks like they are replaying some coverage Friday AM at 04:00 and 07:00 EST. I assume they will have selected good matches.
Quarterfinals (and more consolations) are Friday 11:00 EST.
Blood rounds/Round of 12 (Semifinals and final 8 of consolations) are Friday night at 20:00 EST. (this is the best, hardest fought, matches with tons of emotion from the wrestlers, the winners of this round are "All American" (finishing 1-8). This is what every kid who ever wrestled dreamed of achieving. Kinda like making the $ at the WSOP main event, for anyone who plays poker.)
Consolation semifinals and consolation finals are Saturday at 11:00 EST. ESPNU does have coverage, but ESPN3 will have all the mats.
Finals are Saturday at 19:00 EST. This is on main channel ESPN.
_______________________
Brackets can be found here:
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2016/03/10/2016_diwr_brackets.pdf
Full NCAA coverage of the nationals: http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/...-2016-ncaa-division-i-championship-qualifiers
_______________________
Buckeyes -----
125: Nathan Tomasello. Defending NCAA Champion, 22-0 this season. Ranked #1, and seed #1. CVCA grad. He should cruise to the semi-finals then have a coin-toss match vs Gillman of Iowa. They have not wrestled this year. They split 2 matches last year. Winner of this should face winner of Nico Megaludis (Penn St) vs Joey Dance (Vir Tech). All 4 of these guys are very evenly matched and any could win, and any could place 4th. Tomasello has beaten Megaludis twice this year (once at Penn State, and once in the B1G finals). Both came down to late takedowns by Nathan. I wont ever bet against Nathan. My gut says he wins it all again this year, but he will have possibly the toughest semi and final matchup combo for any weight class.
133: Johnny DeJulius, senior from Walsh Jesuit. 17-7 at the 10th seed. If he gets thru the first 2 rounds, he will then face seed #2 Clark from Iowa. I cant see him beating Clark. Clark beat him pretty well at the B1Gs. Lets all root hard for JDJ, as this is his last chance to AA.
141. Micah Jordan. 25-2, 6th seed, from St Paris Graham. RS Freshman. He will have a tough 2nd round vs Tommy Thorn from Minnesota (but Micah just pinned him at the B1Gs, but match was close, and Micah was behind until that point) and a very very tough quarterfinal vs Kevin Jack of NC State (that tall dude that Logan beat in the semifinals last year). I have K. Jack winning this weight class (gut instinct), so I dont see Micah making it to semis. If I am wrong (hope to be), he will get Joey McKenna (seed 2) of Stanford. Another very tough match. Honestly any of the top 6 guys can win this weight class, so Micah 'can' do it. But he has a tough road. Guys have learned to wrestle defensively (basically stall) against him, and hope to get a defensive takedown. The refs at the B1Gs let his first two opponents get away with it (hopefully the NCAA refs will call stalling).. Jimmy Guilibon from Penn State beat Micah in OT without taking a shot the whole match.
149: We dont have anyone. This was Hunter Steiber's weight. If Hunter was healthy and wrestling like he did his (true) sophomore year, we would have had a top 3 placer here. Zain Retherford of Penn State should roll thru this bracket and win his first championship.
157: Jake Ryan, redshirt frosh, son of the coach of tOSU, from Olentangy Liberty. Unseeded. He is facing Joseph (JoJo) Smith (ironically, son of Oklahoma State coach Joe Smith). JoJo is a true freshman and stud. He is 31-3. I dont think Jake has much chance here and will then have to win a bunch of bouts in the wrestlebacks to try to AA. I dont see it happening this year. Hope he proves me wrong. The finals on Saturday night should be "round 3" of Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs Isaiah Martinez (Illinois). IMar is defending NCAA Champ (won as freshman). He was undefeated in college till he met Nolf at a dual meet this year, and Nolf surprised him and the world by dominating and pinning IMar (of note, there were other circumstances, death of his father, cutting too much weight to maybe make a run at Olympics this year...). They met again in the B1G finals and was one of the best matches I ever watched that did not involve a takedown. IMar won on criteria in overtime (more riding time). Round three should be huge. Cant wait.
165: Bo Jordan. RS-Soph from St Paris Graham. Ranked and seeded #3. Bo has only lost to his cousin Isaac (#2 from Wisky) and once to Dieringer from Okl State (#1 and Hodge trophy front runner), in his career. Bo should cruise to the semifinals, then meet his cousin again. In 3 matches vs Isaac, Bo has yet to take down Isaac. So, I cant see him winning (prove me wrong Bo!). If he gets by this round, he faces Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, two time defending NCAA champion.
174: Miles Martin, true freshman from New Jersey. He is an 11 seed, but 'could' beat just about anyone in his bracket not named Bo. He could also lose by the 2nd round, so we will see. He seems to be wrestling better and better each week and I could see him surprising everyone (but me) and making the finals. If he makes it to the semis, he will probably face Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Bo Nickal of Penn State is (rank and seed)#1 and I cant see him losing. But, his style could lead to a mistake and get caught (like Kyle Snyder did last year in the finals). I would not put money on Bo Nickal losing a match. He is that good.
184: Kenny Courts, senior from Pennsylvania. He did get 5th and AA last year. I dont see him repeating as AA this year. Gabe Dean of Cornell probably wins this.
197: No OSU wrestler. Morgan Mcintosh of Penn State probably faces J'Den Cox of Missouri in the finals.
Hwy: Kyle Snyder, true soph from Maryland, world champions freestyle. He will probably get to finals easily (maybe Walz from Vir tech, and St Eds- I think) gives him fits in the semis. He should face Nick Gwiazdowski from NC State in finals - who is a 2 time defending NCAA Champ and stud wrestler. This should be the feature match of the night (NCAA 2x champ vs world champ). Remember, Kyle doesnt have a true weight class in the NCAA, as he is wrestling 97kg (213 pounds) for team USA, and there is no weight class between 197 and 285 in NCAA. So, Kyle gives up a lot of size and bulk to these heavyweights.
Team-wise. Penn State should roll, again. The real competition will be for #2, with anyone from Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, NC State and Virginia Tech in the hunt.
My gut says.
1. Penn State
2. Oklahoma State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. NC State
6. V Tech
Enjoy and Go Bucks!
ESPN3 will have all the mats.
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/index/_/sport/wrestling/type/upcoming/startDate/20160317/
There are 8 mats going at once, so to know where the Buckeye wrestlers are placed, use:
http://s300.trackwrestling.com/tw/TWHome.jsp?loadBalanced=true
Look for the grey box in the left column labeled 'Trackcast', then select '2016 NCAA Division 1 Championship'. If you did this with the B1G tourney, you know that you have to manually refresh it (or pay the fee, but honestly, just manually refresh when you need it).
First round is Thursday at 12:00 EST. All mats on ESPN3. ESPNU has some coverage, probably flipping between mats like NFL RedZone.
Second round (sweet 16) and start of consolations are Thursday night at 20:00 EST. All mats on ESPN3. ESPNU looks like they are replaying some coverage Friday AM at 04:00 and 07:00 EST. I assume they will have selected good matches.
Quarterfinals (and more consolations) are Friday 11:00 EST.
Blood rounds/Round of 12 (Semifinals and final 8 of consolations) are Friday night at 20:00 EST. (this is the best, hardest fought, matches with tons of emotion from the wrestlers, the winners of this round are "All American" (finishing 1-8). This is what every kid who ever wrestled dreamed of achieving. Kinda like making the $ at the WSOP main event, for anyone who plays poker.)
Consolation semifinals and consolation finals are Saturday at 11:00 EST. ESPNU does have coverage, but ESPN3 will have all the mats.
Finals are Saturday at 19:00 EST. This is on main channel ESPN.
_______________________
Brackets can be found here:
http://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2016/03/10/2016_diwr_brackets.pdf
Full NCAA coverage of the nationals: http://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/...-2016-ncaa-division-i-championship-qualifiers
_______________________
Buckeyes -----
125: Nathan Tomasello. Defending NCAA Champion, 22-0 this season. Ranked #1, and seed #1. CVCA grad. He should cruise to the semi-finals then have a coin-toss match vs Gillman of Iowa. They have not wrestled this year. They split 2 matches last year. Winner of this should face winner of Nico Megaludis (Penn St) vs Joey Dance (Vir Tech). All 4 of these guys are very evenly matched and any could win, and any could place 4th. Tomasello has beaten Megaludis twice this year (once at Penn State, and once in the B1G finals). Both came down to late takedowns by Nathan. I wont ever bet against Nathan. My gut says he wins it all again this year, but he will have possibly the toughest semi and final matchup combo for any weight class.
133: Johnny DeJulius, senior from Walsh Jesuit. 17-7 at the 10th seed. If he gets thru the first 2 rounds, he will then face seed #2 Clark from Iowa. I cant see him beating Clark. Clark beat him pretty well at the B1Gs. Lets all root hard for JDJ, as this is his last chance to AA.
141. Micah Jordan. 25-2, 6th seed, from St Paris Graham. RS Freshman. He will have a tough 2nd round vs Tommy Thorn from Minnesota (but Micah just pinned him at the B1Gs, but match was close, and Micah was behind until that point) and a very very tough quarterfinal vs Kevin Jack of NC State (that tall dude that Logan beat in the semifinals last year). I have K. Jack winning this weight class (gut instinct), so I dont see Micah making it to semis. If I am wrong (hope to be), he will get Joey McKenna (seed 2) of Stanford. Another very tough match. Honestly any of the top 6 guys can win this weight class, so Micah 'can' do it. But he has a tough road. Guys have learned to wrestle defensively (basically stall) against him, and hope to get a defensive takedown. The refs at the B1Gs let his first two opponents get away with it (hopefully the NCAA refs will call stalling).. Jimmy Guilibon from Penn State beat Micah in OT without taking a shot the whole match.
149: We dont have anyone. This was Hunter Steiber's weight. If Hunter was healthy and wrestling like he did his (true) sophomore year, we would have had a top 3 placer here. Zain Retherford of Penn State should roll thru this bracket and win his first championship.
157: Jake Ryan, redshirt frosh, son of the coach of tOSU, from Olentangy Liberty. Unseeded. He is facing Joseph (JoJo) Smith (ironically, son of Oklahoma State coach Joe Smith). JoJo is a true freshman and stud. He is 31-3. I dont think Jake has much chance here and will then have to win a bunch of bouts in the wrestlebacks to try to AA. I dont see it happening this year. Hope he proves me wrong. The finals on Saturday night should be "round 3" of Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs Isaiah Martinez (Illinois). IMar is defending NCAA Champ (won as freshman). He was undefeated in college till he met Nolf at a dual meet this year, and Nolf surprised him and the world by dominating and pinning IMar (of note, there were other circumstances, death of his father, cutting too much weight to maybe make a run at Olympics this year...). They met again in the B1G finals and was one of the best matches I ever watched that did not involve a takedown. IMar won on criteria in overtime (more riding time). Round three should be huge. Cant wait.
165: Bo Jordan. RS-Soph from St Paris Graham. Ranked and seeded #3. Bo has only lost to his cousin Isaac (#2 from Wisky) and once to Dieringer from Okl State (#1 and Hodge trophy front runner), in his career. Bo should cruise to the semifinals, then meet his cousin again. In 3 matches vs Isaac, Bo has yet to take down Isaac. So, I cant see him winning (prove me wrong Bo!). If he gets by this round, he faces Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State, two time defending NCAA champion.
174: Miles Martin, true freshman from New Jersey. He is an 11 seed, but 'could' beat just about anyone in his bracket not named Bo. He could also lose by the 2nd round, so we will see. He seems to be wrestling better and better each week and I could see him surprising everyone (but me) and making the finals. If he makes it to the semis, he will probably face Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Bo Nickal of Penn State is (rank and seed)#1 and I cant see him losing. But, his style could lead to a mistake and get caught (like Kyle Snyder did last year in the finals). I would not put money on Bo Nickal losing a match. He is that good.
184: Kenny Courts, senior from Pennsylvania. He did get 5th and AA last year. I dont see him repeating as AA this year. Gabe Dean of Cornell probably wins this.
197: No OSU wrestler. Morgan Mcintosh of Penn State probably faces J'Den Cox of Missouri in the finals.
Hwy: Kyle Snyder, true soph from Maryland, world champions freestyle. He will probably get to finals easily (maybe Walz from Vir tech, and St Eds- I think) gives him fits in the semis. He should face Nick Gwiazdowski from NC State in finals - who is a 2 time defending NCAA Champ and stud wrestler. This should be the feature match of the night (NCAA 2x champ vs world champ). Remember, Kyle doesnt have a true weight class in the NCAA, as he is wrestling 97kg (213 pounds) for team USA, and there is no weight class between 197 and 285 in NCAA. So, Kyle gives up a lot of size and bulk to these heavyweights.
Team-wise. Penn State should roll, again. The real competition will be for #2, with anyone from Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Iowa, NC State and Virginia Tech in the hunt.
My gut says.
1. Penn State
2. Oklahoma State
3. Ohio State
4. Iowa
5. NC State
6. V Tech
Enjoy and Go Bucks!
