Originally Posted by
Big Bird
NDSU has a pretty good contingent in the various tournaments this week. Here are the ones I noticed:
UWW Junior Greco-Roman bracket: Taylor Nein (66kg), Jonah Lange (84kg), Cole Witzig (84kg) August Peplinski (96kg), and Brandon Metz (120kg) are all registered. Particularly interested in seeing how Metz and Nein do. Metz is a 2x Greco national champ and Nein has more D1 experience than anyone in his bracket. It'd be great to see Metz on the Junior world team.
UWW Junior Freestyle Bracket: Paul Bianchi (55kg), McGwire Midkiff (55kg), Sam Hampton (66kg), Taylor Nein (66kg), Nick Knutson (79kg), Witzig (84kg), Lange (84kg), Peplinski (96kg), and Metz are all registered. Bianchi has an insanely tough bracket. Thomsen, Courtney, Vega, Mattin, D'Emilio, and McKee are all really accomplished youngsters. I think Teasdale is the favorite but I think Bianchi can compete with all of them. Metz is definitely not my pick to win...because Gable Steveson is in the bracket.
Senior Greco Roman: Assistant Coach Chase Nelson (71kg) and Hayden Zillmer (98kg) are both entered. 98kg has gotten much more talented and Hayden's road to a rematch vs Hancock is much tougher now. Adding Austin Schafer and Jacob Kasper is a huge boon to the depth at this weight. If only this could happen at 85kg too (reallllllly bad weight)...
Senior Freestyle: Tirso Lara (57kg), Kallen Kleinschmidt (97kg), and Dan Stibral (125kg) are registered. Kleinschmidt is the one I'm looking forward to watching most. With no Kyle Snyder, this weight is wide open. Kallen has been right with Dustin Kilgore, who is probably the favorite to win this. This is a chance for Kallen to break through in a big way. Kilgore, Gadson, and Walz are the 3 biggest names IMO, but I'm hoping Kallen can stun many around the country and make a run.
I won't be able to watch all of the matches. Apparently it's frowned upon to show up to work, do no work, and watch wrestling all day; but I trust Christopher will give a pretty good recap of how the guys do this weekend.
UWW Junior Greco is tomorrow to get things started.