TOM’s 2011-12 Big 12 Wrestling Preview

Well the season is just around the corner and we have already posted our preseason rankings. We now start our conference by conference preview. We are hoping to get them all out prior to the dual season starting. This is part of our expanded coverage we are hoping to offer all of you this year. Also, look for more live blogs from TOM from some of the best duals this year. As the season looms closer check out the calendar on TOM s news page for a complete schedule of the live blogs that will be offered.

Now we move on to the Big 12. Now down to just four teams this year with the departure of Nebraska to the Big 10, the Big 12 is still loaded with talent. One has to wonder how much longer the Big 4 will remain the Big 12. Although they only have four teams they should produce their fair share of All-Americans in 2011-12.

Lets get started; first we will look at the numbers, then the individuals and wrap it up with the team overviews.

The Numbers

• Returning National Champs: 1
• Returning All-Americans: 2
• Number of weights with zero returning (2011) All-Americans: 7

Returning Big 12 Champions (2011) *weight listed is the one the won it a

• 133 – Jordan Oliver (OSU)
• 149 – Jamal Parks (OSU)
• 184 – Chris Perry (OSU)

125

1. Jarrod Patterson, Oklahoma
2. Alan Waters, Missouri
3. Jon Morrison, Oklahoma State
4. Ryak Finch, Iowa State

It is really hard to say there is a clear-cut favorite here. All four of these guys are legit, although the young Cyclone Finch will have his hands full. Patterson was last years Big 12 runner-up so we have him ranked at the top for now. Waters had a very good freshman campaign, but seemed to slow towards the end of the season. One would have to guess that with a year under his belt, he should be able to improve. Morrison may be the best here, but was hindered by late season injuries. He should be right in the mix. Finally, we look at Finch who is the unknown here. One of the top recruits in the country coming out of High School and if he is at the top of his game should be considered a threat to win the top spot here.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Jon Morrison, OSU
2. Jarrod Patterson, OU
3. Ryak Finch, ISU
4. Alan Waters, MO

133

1. Jordan Oliver, Oklahoma State
2. Nathan McCormick, Missouri
3. Jordan Keller, Oklahoma
4. Ben Cash, Iowa State

Unlike the previous weight, we have a clear favorite here. That would be defending National Champion, Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. Oliver is an early season favorite for the Hodge Trophy and has earned that. He dominated last year and should only be better this season. After that it is pretty wide open. McCormick has been around and is coming off a nice sophomore season where he earned a bid to the NCAA tournament. Keller from Oklahoma was last year’s runner-up. Cash was able to beat McCormick in the first round of the tournament last year, but McCormick came back to defeat Cash for third.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Jordan Oliver, OSU
2. Nathan McCormick, MO
3. Jordan Keller, OU
4. Ben Cash, ISU

141

1. Josh Kindig, Oklahoma State
2. Kendric Maple, Oklahoma
3. Max Mayfield, Iowa State
4. Nick Hucke, Missouri

This weight should be contested by all four guys in this field. We expect Kindig to take a step forward from last season. He did not wrestle badly; he wrestled like a freshman pulled from redshirt. He is a talented wrestler and with a year under his belt he will be in good shape. As a freshman Maple went 2-2 at the NCAA tournament in 2010 and led the Sooners with 33 wins. He is back this year and should be considered a real AA threat. We know people have very high hopes for him as well. Mayfield has been a .500 wrestler so far in his career and will have to elevate his game to break into the top two of this weight. Hucke did beat Mayfield last year, but was not in the line-up at the tournament. He also had a solid year in 2010. If he gets back to the form and shows improvement, one never knows how he could do here.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Kendric Maple, OU
2. Josh Kindig, OSU
3. Nick Hucke, MO
4. Max Mayfield, ISU

149

1. Jamal Parks, Oklahoma State
2. Matt Lester, Oklahoma
3. Kyle Bradley, Missouri
4. Trent Weatherman, Iowa State

Parks will be the favorite here, but there are some solid guys in this weight. Parks is coming off and All-American season last year and should be focused this season. People have been waiting for Parks to really breakout, maybe this will be his year. Lester made it to the big show last year and did go 1-2. We think that if Lester continues to improve like he has the past two years, he could be in the mix at this weight. Bradley was the runner-up to Parks last year and impressed many in his first year as a starter. Bradley may just open more eyes this year. Do not be surprised if he does. Weatherman drops down to 149 after having a rocky season up at 157 as a freshman. We think this move will prove to be a good one for him. He is a talented wrestler and we do not think you should look too much into his freshman year. We are interested to see what he does down at 149.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Jamal Parks, OSU
2. Trent Weatherman, ISU
3. Kyle Bradley, MO
4. Matt Lester, OU

157

1. Albert White, Oklahoma State
2. Chase Nelson, Oklahoma
3. Nick Gregoris, Missouri
4. Mike Moreno, Iowa State

Another wide open weight class and we see a healthy Albert White being the early favorite. With that said we are assuming Albert is healthy and ready to hold that spot down on a regular basis this year. Albert has been around for sometime and has the potential to do well. A key to Albert is he has to open his offense up and wrestle at a high level for seven minutes. If he is able to do that, he could do some good things. The Cowboys will need it from him if they want a shot at the national title. Nelson looked like he would be an All-American threat midway through last season. He did not end that way though. He dropped a 4-2tb match to Gregoris at the Big 12 Championship and went 0-2 at the nationals. Nelson has the talent to do very well and maybe new Sooner coach Cody will get him to another level. Gregoris had a very solid season last year and will look to improve upon that. As we said he does own a win over Nelson and should be considered a contender here. Iowa State will have redshirt freshman Moreno. We are not sure where he will end up fitting here and it may take a few matches to see where he ends up from a prediction perspective at least. We think he will do well in what should be a much contested weight.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Chase Nelson, OU
2. Albert White, OSU
3. Mike Moreno, ISU
4. Nick Gregoris, MO

165

1. Zach Toal, Missouri
2. Andrew Sorenson, Iowa State
3. Dallas Bailey, Oklahoma State
4. Patrick Graham, Oklahoma

This is one weight we are very interested in watching unfold. There are some pretty good talents here with four possible All-Americans. Toal came out firing last year as a freshman and earned a name for him early on. He does have a loss to Sorenson but does have wins over Bailey and Graham. Sorenson we have listed second now mostly due to the fact that we want to see how he rebounds from his injury. Sorenson was wrestling very well before the injury and earned wins over both Toal and Bailey. If he is on, he will be very tough to beat. Bailey is coming off a solid performance last year but is another guy the Cowboys will need to step up for any shot at the national title. He is capable of beating anyone here, but we will see if he has made the rights steps to get that done. The new comer is Patrick Graham who transfers in with Coach Cody from American. Graham put together a nice season last year and qualified for the NCAA tournament. We are not sure how he will do here, but he is solid and we would not count him out.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Andrew Sorenson, ISU
2. Zach Toal, MO
3. Dallas Bailey, OSU
4. Patrick Graham, OU

174

1. Chris Spangler, Iowa State
2. Dorian Henderson, Missouri
3. Chris McNeil, Oklahoma State
4. Dax Perrier, Oklahoma

This is somewhat of an open weight class here. Our early favorite is the Cyclone Chris Spangler. Spangler suffered through some injuries last year but did earn a nice win over last year’s national runner-up Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma. He is coming up to 174 and that may help keep him healthy. He is one to keep an eye on if he remains healthy. Henderson is one of those guys that feel like he has been around for a decade. He finally enters his senior season with hopes of making his fourth NCAA tournament and earning All-American honors. Will this be the year he breaks through and gets it done? Maybe, only time will tell. He has the ability to get it done. McNeil will get the nod for the Cowboys. McNeil does have wins over Cody Yohn and Justin Kerber on his résumé. He may be your sneaky pick here. Rounding the weight out is Dax Perrier. We do not have a ton of info on the redshirt freshman other than he had a very impressive High School Career going 133-12 and capturing two Oklahoma state titles.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Chris Spangler. ISU
2. Dorian Henderson, MO
3. Chris McNeil, OSU
4. Dax Perrier, OU

184

1. Chris Perry, Oklahoma State
2. Jerome Ward, Iowa State
3. Mike Larson, Missouri
4. Eric Schmidtke, Oklahoma

This is another weight that we think will be up for grabs. Perry is your early favorite coming off a very good season and Big 12 championship. Perry has all the tools to contend for a national title someday and will be in the thick of things this year. Ward has had his good moments as well as some interesting ones. If he wrestles at the level he can, he could push Perry. Larson should be improved as well and is a very capable wrestler. He but together a solid season last year for the Tigers and does have a win over Schmidtke who he has also loss too. Schmidtke did beat Perry last year early in the year and won the most recent meeting with Larson. Having Cody as a coach should only help him this year.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Chris Perry, OSU
2. Jerome Ward. ISU
3. Eric Schmidtke, OU
4. Mike Larson, MO

197

1. Cayle Byers, Oklahoma State
2. Brent Haynes, Missouri
3. Kyven Gadson, Iowa State
4. Keldrick Hall, Oklahoma

Well this one should be interesting to say the least and may be the toughest weight in the Big 12. Byers comes in after missing last year due to some off the mat issues. He did beat last year’s national champion Kilgore though. We are not sure that win is enough to make him a lock here. Brent Haynes had a stellar freshman campaign, but fell back to the pack last season. If Haynes is at his best he may have a breakout season. He is good and exciting and can put up bonus points for the Tigers. The guy we are most eager to see take the mat is Kyven Gadson of Iowa State. Gadson opened eyes during his redshirt season when he beat Ihnen of Nebraska by fall. We would not be shocked to see him upset the apple cart here. Rounding things out is Hall of Oklahoma. Hall is solid and with Cody in the room should be much improved. He will have to battle hard to make it to the top in this group.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Kyven Gadson, ISU
2. Cayle Byers, OSU
3. Brent Haynes, MO
4. Keldrick Hall, OU

285

1. Alan Gelogaev, Oklahoma State
2. Elijah Madison, Oklahoma
3. Kyle Simonson, Iowa State
4. Devin Mellon, Missouri

We know that most people are looking at Gelogaev as the heavy favorite and at this time we are cool with that. But, we are not 100% sold he is a lock here. This will be his first full season at Heavy and he is coming of a major injury. With that said he is talented enough to win the weight, but let’s see how he does early on. Elijah Madison is getting a lot of buzz as well. He is a tough wrestler but lacks the big wins on this level. He was the DII national champion though so people have some high hopes for him this season. Simonson should be the guy at Iowa State this year. He had some real nice wins last season and putting together a 26-12 record. If he has improved from last year he should be considered one to watch here. Mellon will get the nod for the Tigers. We know he has the workout partners and did manage a 14-5 record last season.

TOM’s conference tournament predictions

1. Alan Gelogaev, OSU
2. Elijah Madison, OU
3. Kyle Simonson, ISU
4. Devin Mellon, MO

Teams

1. Oklahoma State
2. Iowa State
3. Missouri
4. Oklahoma

Team Overviews

Oklahoma State Cowboys
15-2-1 (Overall) and 6-1 (Big 12)

Projected Line-up

125 – Jon Morrison/Ladd Rupp, So
133 – Jordan Oliver, Jr
141 – Josh Kindig, So
149 – Jamal Parks, Sr
157 – Albert White, Sr
165 – Dallas Bailey, So
174 – Chris McNeil/Zach White, Sr
184 – Chris Perry, So
197 – Cayle Byers/Rosholt, Sr
Hwt – Alan Gelogaev, Sr

Oklahoma State is now considered one of the contenders come next March. Some things may need to go their way but they do have the fire power to make a run. Their line-up is very balanced and does not have any glaring holes. They will be lead by defending national champion Jordan Oliver who was dominating last season. We expect more of the same from him this year. Another team leader is All-American Jamal Parks. Look for these two to step up and set the pace.

The addition of Byers certainly helps their case as well. If Byers wrestles up to everyone’s expectations he will make the back-end of the line up very tough. We think that Morrison and Kindig will improve and be right in the mix towards the end of the year also.

That leaves the rest of the guys who the Cowboys will need to step up. Their national title hopes really hinge on four guys in our opinion. That would be White, Bailey, Perry and Gelogaev. All four of these guys can be All-Americans and the Cowboys will need them to be. Much of the Cowboys success this year will depend on how these four do.

TOM’s Outlook: Well, we see the Cowboys capturing five titles and having eight finalists. That alone makes them pretty tough to beat. But as with any team they need to have their big guns step up and get the job done. This should win the conference tournament. They should get 8-9 guys into the nationals and possibly all 10. We will have to wait and see. We should know a lot more about them after December 4, 2011 when they face off against Minnesota at home.

Iowa State Cyclones
9-11 (Overall) and 0-5 (Big 12)

Projected Lineup for Iowa State

125 – Ryak Finch, Fr
133 – Ben Cash/Terukina/Hallman, So
141 – Max Mayfield, So
149 – Trent Weatherman/Cozart, So
157 – Mike Moreno, Fr
165 – Andrew Sorenson, Sr
174 – Chris Spangler, Jr
184 – Jerome Ward/Beard/Shafer, Sr
197 – Kyven Gadson, Fr
Hwt – Kyle Simonson/Gibson, Jr

The Cyclones may be the comeback team of the year in the Big 12; well at least that is what we are predicting. They will be very much improved then they were a year ago and have far fewer holes in their line-up. They are still in a rebuilding phase though. They lose Reader but for the most part their freshman will offer an upgrade from last season. A healthy Sorenson and Spangler will also help. If they stay healthy and wrestle to their ability they should be able to secure the second spot in the conference.

147 will be a battle between Cozart and Weatherman. Also, Boaz Beard is back in school and may push ward for the spot at 184. That should be something interesting to follow as the season plays out. Finch is the real deal and if he is ready to go he could make some noise for the Cyclones this year. As should fellow freshman Gadson. All in all they should be much improved. We would also not be surprised to see Terukina in the line-up at some point.

TOM’s Outlook: We think they will get five finalists and three possible champions this year. That is a dramatic improvement from last season and should make Cyclone fans happy. They key to this team is their ability to stay healthy and show improvement with their younger wrestlers.

Missouri Tigers
15-8 (Overall) and 2-3 (Big 12)

Projected Lineup for Missouri

125 – Alan Waters, So
133 – Nathan McCormick, Jr
141 – Nick Hucke/Brandon Wiest, Jr
149 – Kyle Bradley, So
157 – Nick Gregoris/Drake Houdashelt, Jr
165 – Zach Toal, So
174 – Dorian Henderson, So
184 – Mike Larson, Jr
197 – Brent Haynes, Jr
Hwt – Devin Mellon, Fr

Missouri brings a balanced line-up to the table. They will be led by Waters, Toal, Henderson and Haynes. If these four can put things together, they can really put together a solid season for the Tigers. Specifically the Tigers need Henderson to get over the hump and put everything together this year. They are only starting one freshman so they have some experienced guys in the line-up and that always helps.

They will need big years out of guys like McCormick, Gregoris, Larson and Hucke. If these four make steady progress it really balances out the team. The two guys we think may breakout this year would be Larson and Gregoris. They both have the talent to turn some heads this season.

TOM’s Outlook: We can see the Tigers getting three or four finalist this year and possibly winning a few of those. They are an odd group to predict. The talent is there but the track record at the end of the year is not. They could be the surprise team in this conference if things go their way.

Oklahoma Sooners
13-2 (Overall) and 3-2 (Big 12)

Projected Lineup for Oklahoma

125 – Jarrod Patterson, Jr
133 – Jordan Keller, Sr
141 – Kendric Maple, So
149 – Matt Lester, So
157 – Chase Nelson, Sr
165 – Patrick Graham, Jr
174 – Dax Perrier/Spangler/Wheeler, Fr
184 – Eric Schmidtke, Jr
197 – Keldrick Hall, Jr
Hwt – Elijah Madison, Jr

The Sooners lost some heavy hitters that may impact their standing this season. With that said there are still some very talented wrestlers on the Sooner roster. This year they will be lead by Patterson, Keller, Nelson and Schmidtke. These guys will need to step up and show the way for the younger guys. Most Sooner fans are happy with the decision to go with Mark Cody as the new coach. We agree and we think it was a great hire and should bring some big things to Norman. This is only his first year, so we are being a bit guarded until he gets his feet under him. But we also would not count this team out.

Patterson has shown he can be one of the better guys in the country. He will need to be this year for the Sooners to finish as high as they did last year. Many are high on Maple who is a very good wrestler. The addition of Graham from American should also be helpful this year. Graham had a solid season last year and should carry that over to his new team. Another young guy people have high hopes for is Heavyweight Elijah Madison. Madison is a former DII National Champion that should anchor this line up.

TOM’s Outlook: Look for the Sooners to get four into the finals and grab two titles. Much like Missouri they are somewhat hard to handicap. They seem to have a bunch of guys who could do very well or end up third or fourth. Time will tell and we will keep an eye on how this team develops throughout the season.