Midlands Sleepers And Landmines
Midlands Sleepers And Landmines
Wrestlers to keep an eye on at the Midlands Championships.
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The Mighty Midlands is fast approaching. Many high caliber wrestlers will be piling into the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates to partake in the grandest wrestling tournament of them all.
Watch 2019 Midlands Championships LIVE on FloWrestling
December 29-30 | 10:30 AM Eastern
While you can count on a bevy of ranked wrestlers in every bracket, you can also count on a surfeit of dark horses and landmines lurking just under the radar. Registration hasn't closed yet, but based on the teams entered, we've highlighted a few guys to keep your eye on at each weight class who could disrupt the current order of things at the 57th Midlands.
125 Pounds
Gage Curry, American
Joe Manchino, Columbia
Bryce West, Northern Illinois
Two-time national qualifier Gage Curry has a win over Manchino, who just missed qualifying for Pittsburgh as a true frosh. Both EIWA rivals are poised for a deep post season run this year.
Northern Illinois may not be as well-known as it's direction-less rival in Champagne, but there is some good young talent in DeKalb, and Bryce West is a big part of that.
133 Pounds
Louie Hayes, Virginia
Carmen Ferrante, Penn
Jack Skudlarczyk, Northern Iowa
Mario Guillen, Ohio
Injuries and getting caught between two weight classes hampered Louie Hayes last season. But now that he's settled in at 133, we could see a return to form that saw him finish in the blood round in 2018 as a redshirt freshman.
Watch Hayes defeat the ranked Anthony Madrigal at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational:
Ferrante, Skudlarczyk and Guillen are all bubble guys in a very deep weight class nationally.
141 Pounds
Matthew Kazimir, Columbia
Dresden Simon, Central Michigan
Paul Konrath, Indiana
Matthew Kazimir is 14-1 on the season which includes two wins over national qualifiers. Dresden Simon has wins over four national qualifiers already on the season, including a victory over All-American Kyle Shoop. Paul Konrath hasn't had a big win yet this season, but last year he toppled third placer Tariq Wilson.
149 Pounds
Kizhan Clarke, American
PJ Ogunsanya, Army
Mason Smith, Campbell
Few wrestlers have been as hot as Kizhan Clarke is this season. He's a scorching 18-0 as we round the midway point of his redshirt junior season.
Mason Smith is a two-time NCAA qualifier who's now had two seasons of coaching by Cary Kolat at Campbell. And we had to include PJ Ogunsanya, if for no other reason than to embed the following video.
Watch Ogunsanya's dramatic overtime win over three-time national qualifier Cole Martin:
157 Pounds
Justin Thomas, Oklahoma
Mason Kauffman, Northern Illinois
Logan Parks, Central Michigan
One of the deepest weight classes in the NCAA will be on full display at the Midlands. Justin Thomas made the round of 12 last season but is ranked a mere 18th. That is a testament to the deep talent pool far more than it is an indictment on Thomas' capabilities.
Watch Thomas' win over Jaden Mattox at the CKLV:
More evidence of the deepness of the weight is Logan Parks and Mason Kauffman both being outside the top 20. Both are capable of doing a lot of damage to this bracket.
165 Pounds
Kennedy Monday, North Carolina
Emil Soehnlen, Purdue
Danny Braunagel, Illinois
Injuries derailed Kennedy Monday's sophomore season. But a healthy Monday is a scary proposition for the rest of the weight class, as Joey Lavallee found out the hard way in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Championship. Monday upset the #2 seed Lavallee on his way to a bloodround finish.
It would be easy to overlook freshman Emil Soehnlen, as his 9-6 record is unremarkable. Five of those losses were to ranked opponents and the sixth was to blue-chip recruit Carson Karchla. It would be unwise to overlook Soehnlen if you plan on sharing a bracket with him.
Braunagel is another big Ten freshman with a very high ceiling and tremendous upside potential.
174 Pounds
Ben Harvey, Army
Jacob Covaciu, Indiana
Victor Marcelli, Virginia
After two consecutive round of 12 finishes (including a win over David McFadden at last year's tournament), Ben Harvey shouldn't be under anyone's radar, but a tough early season has Harvey ranked at #21. Do not expect Harvey to be ranked that low when the NCAA tournament rolls around.
Jacob Covaciu qualified for the NCAA tournament last season from an incredibly competitive Big Ten bracket. Victor Marcelli has the potential to make his first national championship as a redshirt freshman for the Cavaliers.
184 Pounds
Trevor Allard, Bloomsburg
Brit Wilson, Northern Illinois
Travis Stefanik, Princeton
Trevor Allard is getting things done for the Huskies. He's 12-1 in his senior season and is the only member of the Bloomsburg squad to crack the top 25. Though he has never qualified for the NCAA tournament, the smart money is on Allard snapping the streak in 2020.
Watch Allard defeat Michigan's Jelani Embree at the Black Knight Invite:
Travis Stefanik just took out Nelson Brands, who had beaten two ranked opponents prior to that match. Brit Wilson is another young hammer on the Northern Illinois squad.
197 Pounds
Jay Aiello, Virginia
Drew Phipps, Bucknell
Lucas Davison, Northwestern
Jay Aiello and Drew Phipps are two veterans who have qualified for the NCAA tournament and have had impressive performances at big-time tournaments before. They might not attend historical wrestling powerhouses but they are both dangerous guys capable of blowing up a bracket.
Lucas Davison is just getting his career going, but he has the potential for a breakout tournament hosted by his own team.
285 Pounds
Garrett Hoffman, Bucknell
Yaraslau Slavilouski, Harvard
Tommy Penola, Purdue
Garrett Hoffman recently returned to action after a long, injury-plagued layoff. If he's healthy he's capable of big things, as evidenced by his win over Anthony Cassar two seasons ago at 197-pounds.
Yaraslau Slavilouski and Tommy Penola are two athletic heavyweights on the lighter side of the spectrum that are capable of giving any of the big men at this tournament fits.