It's dog bone time! The glorious session that is two semis in the middle with four bloodround matches around has finally arrived.

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Instead of doing a "best semis" like we have with the other rounds, we're just going to break down each semi for you.

125 Pounds

#1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs #5 Jack Mueller (Virginia)

Mueller took out Ronnie Bresser in the second tiebreaker to maintain his perfect season, and also not give Bresser a third crack at Rivera. Both placed sixth in their freshmen seasons, so it will be the first final for either guy. The one knock against Mueller this year was his schedule wasn’t super difficult, but that hasn’t mattered so far.

#2 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) vs #3 Spencer Lee (Iowa)

Ho boy. How can you not be excited about a Cowboy against a Hawkeye? Oh yeah, and it’s potential revenge for the defending national champ from getting pinned in the dual. Don’t forget, Spencer won the title last year from the three seed. Can Picc fight off the first period attacks again and get out in the second or third?

133 Pounds

#1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs #5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State)

Fix beat John Erneste for the second time this season and Pletcher avenged his CKLV loss to his childhood friend Micky Phillipppi. Pletcher’s scores have still been low, but he seems to be less reticent to pull the trigger since losing to Chas Tucker in the last dual of the year. The question is, will he fire off enough to counter the slideby and finish cleanly to not give up a takedown in a scramble?

#2 Stevan Micic (Michigan) vs #3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers)

Rematch time! One of the most anticipated matches of the regular season was decided by a single takedown and a couple questionable stalemate calls. It seems like Micic is healthy, or at least healthy enough, to be good enough to win this tournament. Suriano meanwhile looked like he was sending a message in his dominant quarterfinal win over Lizak.

141 Pounds

#1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs #5 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)

Part six overall and part four in college. One of the few guys who really gives Yianni trouble, Eierman has been jumping out to big leads and then holding on late this tournament. The defending champ though hasn’t picked up any bonus, it has been more survive and advance. Comes with the territory of being the hunted I suppose. Look for Yianni to hit another headwheel late to win.

#2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs #3 Nick Lee (Penn State)

Another round four here on the bottom side. All of their matches have been decided a single point, with McKenna taking the first one in the dual last year and beating Lee this year in the Big Ten semis. The key really seems to be if the Buckeye can get two takedowns in the first or not. This is also where I must obligatorily mention PSU has won 16 straight semifinals.

149 Pounds

#1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs #5 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton)

Another recurring rivalry, they were about dead even heading into the February dual meet. But then Shnaulty mobbed his way to a 10-2 major, holding up all five fingers on both hands in the direction of Princeton coach Chris Ayres, who said Ashnault wouldn’t score a point against Kolodzik. It looks like it's Ashnault's year.

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#2 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs #6 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina)

I guess CKLV is tougher than NCAAs. Just kidding, but this semi was a quarter in Vegas, with Jordan winning 7-3. O'Connor has been making waves all year, but this might be the one matchup that gives him a lot of problems, he'll struggle to generate offense against Mickey, who is fantastic on his feet.

157 Pounds

#1 Jason Nolf (Penn State) vs #5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State)

A rematch of last year's NCAA finals. Hidlay beat Alec Pantaleo for the third time in a calendar year and is not only the face of the program in Raleigh, but also one of the standard bearers for the rapidly improving ACC. A Nolf win will just about wrap up the team title for the Nittany Lions.

#2 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) vs #6 Kaleb Young (Iowa)

A rematch of the dual where Berger blew the Hawkeye bench a kiss after beating Young. That one went into sudden victory, and considering that Young just took out Ryan Deakin, should be a hell of a match. While I think it is destiny for Berger and Nolf to close out both their high school and college careers against each other, Young has quietly been one of the stories of the tournament and the season for the Hawkeyes after dropping down from 174.

165 Pounds

#4 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) vs #8 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)

It wasn't seeds that prevented a Wick/Marinelli semifinal, it was Junior world champ Mekhi Lewis. The only 1 seed to go down that round, Lewis won a neutral danger zone situation right before time expired, beating Marinelli for the second time. Wick cradled up Marsteller (again) and gives Chris Bono and Jon Reader a semifinalists at Wisconsin a year after making Seth Gross a national champ at South Dakota State.

#2 Vincenzo Joseph (Penn State) vs #3 Josh Shields (Arizona State)

They met in a dual at Rec Hall on December 14th and Joseph picked up the major. That was helped by Cenzo stuffing a dive roll of Shields and not only finishing the takedown but holding Shields on his back. The Sun Devil will have to drastically change his offensive pace to have a chance against the two-time defending champ.

174 Pounds

#1 Mark Hall (Penn State) vs #4 Myles Amine (Michigan)

Anybody wanna bet this will be a one point match? That's how the other four have gone, no reason to think otherwise now.

#2 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs #3 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State)

The cradle that nobody saw. Lewis has looked incredible for his senior year, with the single loss coming in a barnburner to Myles Amine. He's the only guy who pinned his way into the semis. Zahid also looks back to his old way, racking up points and pinning Ben Harvey in the first period of his quarterfinal. This might be the best semi on tap.

184 Pounds

#1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs #5 Max Dean (Cornell)

Martin has wrestled Dean twice this year, a 17-7 major in the CKLV semis and a 13-6 win in the final dual of the regular season. Between those two wins, the Buckeye had 12 takedowns. I can't wait to see the final season tally from his feet.

#6 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) vs #15 Chip Ness (North Carolina)

So, yeah, 184 fell apart. I somehow may end up being right about picking Foster to make the finals on FRL. The Panther senior beat Ness 5-0 at CKLV and 5-3 in a dual two weeks later. But Ness might just be a man of destiny, at this point he's playing with house money. Two semifinalists for Coleman Scott and the Tar Heels, that UNC program is on the rise.

197 Pounds

#1 Bo Nickal (Penn State) vs #4 Pat Brucki (Princeton)

Neither of these guys looked quite up to form in their quarter. Nickal only picked up a major and Brucki gave up over three minutes of riding time in a one point win over 21 seed Tom Lane.

#2 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs #3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)

The last time these two met was a 13-5 win for Moore in the 2017 quarterfinals. That was several different iterations ago of both of them. Weigel pinned Christian Brunner in under a minute while Moore had to slug it out with Tom Sleigh in the quarters. I changed course in my 197 preview, saying that, while Moore was the second best guy all year, Weigel's performance at Big 12s changed things. It also has been a roller coaster season for Weigel, who thought his career was over back in December.

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285 Pounds

#1 Derek White (Oklahoma State) vs #4 Jordan Wood (Lehigh)

The Cowboy Bulk Job has eked out his last two wins, but is finally an All-American. Wood has pretty clearly been the fourth best guy all year and took out AA Sam Stoll 2-0 in the quarters. These two met at the beginning of February, with White winning 3-2 on an ankle pick on the edge in the second period.

#2 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) vs #3 Gable Steveson (Minnesota)

Cassar transforming himself into a national title contender has been a fun storyline all year. True freshman Gable dominated Amar Dhesi, the highest returning AA at the weight, 11-1 in the quarters. We all know how the Big Ten final went, but let's re-watch it again below. The stakes are higher this time.