Preview: Southern Scuffle 2011

Now it is time to take a quick look at the other big tournament happening this weekend. The Southern Scuffle will kick off on January 1, 2012. What a way to kick off the New Year. Much like the Midlands, there are some great match-ups that we expect to see.

There are three top five teams entered and dozens of nationally ranked wrestlers.

Why waste time, let’s get this one started.

Since the brackets are already out of Track Wrestling we will just break down the brackets and give our predictions.

125

Top Bracket

Top ranked Zach Sanders looks to be in good shape through to the semi-finals. Sanders has really looked good this season and seems to be wrestling the best of his career. That is saying something for a three-time All-American. He has some big matches looming this year and one of those should occur this weekend. He most likely will face Bonanno of Hofstra in the semi-finals. Although, Bonanno could face a tough match in the quarters against Snyder of Virginia. Bonnano was third in Vegas with some real nice wins. Synder has also put together a solid season and this should make for a good quarter final match.

Either way we see Sanders being too much for either and advancing to the finals.

Bottom

Leading the way here is fourth ranked Waters from Missouri. Waters like Sanders is undefeated and recently knocked off former number two Bedelyon of Kent state. He will have to get by Cornell’s Perelli in the semi’s first. Perelli will be looking to notch that significant win that could move him towards the top of the weight class. He had a close loss to Sanders at the start of the year. He was second in Vegas to Bedelyon whom Waters beat. Keep and eye Megaludis from Penn State he is a talented freshman that could get an upset. He should face Perelli in the quarters. Waters may get a test in the quarters as well from Coltin Fought of North Carolina State. Fought has been pretty solid thus far.

In a close low scoring match we see Waters beating Perelli in the semi-final and advancing to face Sanders.

Finals

This should be a great match. As we said Sanders has looked at the top of his game. His motor is second to none and he seems to be finishing his shots better this year. Some also think he has added some size and strength. Waters was simply impressive in his win over Bedelyon. He dominated that match and should be able to give Sanders all he can handle. In a back and forth match that is decided late in the third period we have Sanders winning.

TOM Prediction

1. Sanders, Minnesota
2. Waters, Missouri
3. Perrelli, Cornell
4. Bonnano, Hofstra

133

Top

Look for top seed Thorn of Minnesota to roll through his quarter side of the bracket. The bottom quarter is a bit more interesting. Garrett Drucker of Oregon State should meet up with Matt Nelson of Virginia in the quarter finals. They have both been ranked through out the season so far. Nelson missed some time due to injury and Drucker has seemed to be trending backwards the past month. We have Nelson getting a win here and moving into the semi-final to face Thorn.

We have Thorn winning the top half of the bracket and moving into the finals.

Bottom

The bottom half of the bracket looks to be more balanced. Eighth ranked McCormick of Missouri is really having a good season. He has been on a roll as of late. He will get a very tough match in the quarters when he most likely will face Minnesota’s Chris Dardanes who is the back up to Thorn. Keep in mind that there is not much separating Dardanes and Thorn. This should be marked as your first possible upset of the tournament. As of now we are going with McCormick to win a thriller. Navy’s Kalil, who is the third seed, has a tough road to make the semi-finals. He will first have to get by Arujau of American who is entered as an unattached. That should be a great match. If he gets past him, he will face Martellotti of Penn State. He final returns to the line up and Penn State fans are probably excited about that. We have Martellotti winning this one and moving into the semi to face McCormick.

It will be interesting to see where Martellotti is at, after missing the first half of the season. We think it may take him some time to get back to his top form so we are picking McCormick to advance to the finals.

Finals

Other then his loss to Oliver from Oklahoma state (which was brutal), Thorn has been lights out. Much like Sanders, Thorn has a huge motor and comes at you with everything he has. McCormick will have his hands full here. Look for Thorn to win.

TOM Prediction

1. Thorn, Minnesota
2. McCormick, Missouri
3. Dardanes, Minnesota
4. Drucker, Oregon State

141

Top

Oregon States Mangrum leads the way at 141. He really has been wrestling well this year and is considered a real threat to win a National Title. He should be able to make his way to the semi-final with not much resistance. Nevinger of Cornell is your fourth seed, he will be tested in the quarters by Nick Nelson of Virginia. We have Neslon ranked ahead of Nevinger currently, although they are not far apart. We are leaning towards Nelson winning here and moving on to face Mangrum in the semi. Mangrum is the clear favorite to advance to the finals.

Bottom

One of the surprises on the season has been Henderson from North Carolina. The guy is a pinning machine. He has some pretty solid wins on the year, and a few losses. He is always dangerous. His first round match-up against Neiman from Indiana could be a great one. He will be challenged in every round most likely. If he get’s by Neiman he should win the next round before facing either Hucke from Missouri or Lange from Minnesota. Hucke and Lange will face each other in the second round. Lange is a back up from Minnesota who is very solid. Hucke wins a close one and moves on to face Henderson. We see Henderson getting past Hucke and waiting in the semi-final. Your third seed is Nick Dardanes from Minnesota. He only has one loss on the year and that was in the opener where he was beat by Nevinger. Since then he has been outstanding for the Gophers. Look for him to take out Henderson and move into the finals to face Mangrum.

Finals

One of the matches we are looking forward too. Both are very good on their feet. It will give us a good idea as to how Dardanes stacks up against the current top five. In a close, high scoring match we see Mangrum winning.

TOM Prediction

1. Mangrum, Oregon State
2. Dardanes, Minnesota
3. Hucke, Missouri
4. Nelson, Virginia

149

Top

Frank Molinaro is your top seed at the weight. In our opinion he has looked great this season. He probably has one of the worse draws for a number one though. He will be tested from the second round on. In the second round he most likely will face Villalonga of Cornell. Villalonga is no slouch and has some serious skills on his feet. This should be a good early test for Molinaro. After that he will see Accordino of Hofstra in the quarters. Although Frank should win and move on, he will be tested. After that he should see either Oregon State’s Sakaguchi or Cornell’s Eifert. We think Sakaguchi is a tougher match up for him and that is who we think makes it to the semi-final. Sakaguchi was a guy we were rather high on to start the year, but has had some early season struggles. If he has things back on track this could be a very interesting semi-final. In the end we think Molinaro will just have too much and he will advance to the finals.

Bottom

Bradley of Missouri is yout second seed and we see him cruising into the semi’s. He most likely will face Minnesota’s Ness. The bottom half of this one just is not as loaded as the top half of the bracket. This should be a great semi-final and we see Ness coming away with the win.

Final

These two have met once before and Ness had no real answer to Molinaro on his feet. Ness did come back in the last period to make things interesting though. If he is able to keep this one close through the first two periods he has a real shot. In the end we think Molinaro dominates from neutral and gets the win.

TOM Prediction

1. Molinaro, Penn State
2. Ness, Minnesota
3. Bradley, Missouri
4. Sakaguchi, Oregon State

157

Top

Two-time defending national champion Kyle Dake, looks to be in good shape on the top half. He should be able to move right into the semi-final. Once there he should be facing one of two guys. Houdashelt from Missouri has been very solid for the Tigers. He will have to get by Minnesota’s Matt Mincey. Although Mincey is a back up, he is dangerous on his feet. Look for Houdashelt to move on. We expect Dake to win in the semi and move into the final.

Bottom

Penn State’s Dylan Alton is your second seed at the weight. He should not have to much of an issue on his part of the bracket and we expect to see him in the semi-finals. RJ Pena of Oregon State is your third seed and should be challenged in the quarters by Ortiz from Minnesota. You could see some big throws in the match, and for that reason we are kind of thinking anything could happen. But at this point we favor Pena moving on. Alton and Pena should be one heck of a match. We have Alton winning though and moving on to face Dake.

Finals

Alton is a good wrestler that will most likely do some great things, but we are not sure he is ready to over throw Dake. Dake is one dynamic wrestler that we sometimes think gets undersold by fans. He is the only current wrestler in college to not have lost a match at the NCAA tournament (excluding freshman) and he has won two national titles at two different weights. That is impressive in our opinion. Dake wins.

TOM Prediction

1. Dake, Cornell
2. Alton, Penn State
3. Pena, Oregon State
4. Houdashelt, Missouri

165

Top

Another phenom takes the mate here in David Taylor of Penn State. Taylor has looked just about perfect this season. He is coming off his closes match of the year. Look for him to cruise in to the semi’s. He most likely will face Missouri’s Zach Toal. That is if Toal can get past Appalachian States Blevins. Those two should have a great match in the quarters. Look for Toal to advance and face Taylor. Taylor may get a test from Toal, but in the end Taylor will have too much for him. Taylor moves to the finals.

Bottom

The second seed is PJ Gillespie of Hofstra. He has been good this year only losing to Onufer of Wyoming. He could be the guy that gives Taylor his toughest test of the year so far. In the quarters he should face Peppelman of Cornell. Peppelman is a talented young wrestler that has the skills to be very good. We are not sure he is there just yet. Gillespie moves on where he should face Minnesota’s Yohn. Yohn has been great since his loss to Taylor early in the year. He has shown vast improvement on his feet and always rides tough. We see Gillespie winning a close one though.

Finals

In what should be Taylor’s toughest test of the year he will face Gillespie. This one should be closer then some think. In a 2-3 point match we see Taylor winning.

TOM Predictions

1. Taylor, Penn State
2. Gillespie, Hofstra
3. Yohn, Minnesota
4. Toal, Missouri

174

Top

Your top seed is Ruth of Penn State. So far this season he has performed as expected. Although, he has not faced a lot top level competition. He will see some tough guys this weekend. Look for him to make his way to the semi with little to no problem. Once there we see him facing one of two guys. The first could be Luvsandorj of The Citidal. He will have to get by Edwards of Old Dominion. Edwards has been a bit of a surprise this year. He has a few nice wins most notably over Spangler of Iowa State. He should win here and move on to face Ruth. Once there we think that Ruth will just be a little too much for him and Ruth moves on.

Bottom

Dorian Henderson of Missouri leads off the bottom as the number two seed. Henderson seems to be wrestling the best of his career so far this year. He did recently drop a match to Spangler, but other then that he has been perfect. Look for him to make it to the semi’s. Purdue of Ohio is your third seed and he should move into the quarters where he will face a tough Logan Storley of Minnesota. Storley is a blue chip true freshman that recently returned from injury. In his returned he dropped a close match to Spangler. We see Storley winning here and moving into the semi-final. Henderson vs. Storley should be a good match. It will also let us know where Storley is at. In an upset we have Storley winning and moving into the finals to face Ruth.

Finals

This has the making of a long term rivalry. These two guys will face each other numerous times over the next few years. Right now we think Ruth has the advantage. He has the experience and is very explosive on his feet. Over time we think the matches between these two will become more exciting each time. Ruth will not be able to relax in this one. Ruth wins.

TOM Prediction

1. Ruth, Penn State
2. Storley, Minnesota
3. Henderson, Missouri
4. Edwards, Old Dominion

184

Top

This should be a fun weight. Bosak of Cornell is your top seed. He has been impressive this season. His only loss on the year came to LeBlanc of Wyoming. He could be tested on his side by either Clymer of Hofstra or Bencomo of Duke who makes his debut this year. We see a Bosak vs. Bencomo quarter with Bosak winning and moving into the semi-final. The favorite for him to face is Trotman of Appalachian State. Although, Trotman got a real tough first round draw in Minnesota’s Joel Bauman. Bauman is the back-up to Steinhaus and is pretty solid in his own right. On a side note Bauman and Stenhaus are from the same High School, a school that graduates about 20 kids per class. Anyways we see Trotman getting the win and working his way into the semi-final versus Bosak. Bosak will win there and move on.

Bottom

Minnesota’s Steinhaus is your second seed and should be good until the quarters will he will face the always tough Rebertus of Navy. It will be close but Steinhaus should win. Then we are looking forward to yet another match between Steinhaus and Wright of Penn State. Steinhaus already has a win this year over the defending national champion. In a true toss up we are going with Steinhaus to win.

Finals

Bosak has dominated Steinhaus in all of their previous meetings. Unless something has dramatically changed, we do not see Steinhaus winning. Bosak takes the title.

TOM Prediction

1. Bosak
2. Steinhaus
3. Wright
4. Trotman

197

Top

Cam Simaz returns to action for Cornell after missing time with an injury. He looked great up until he was hurt at the Bodybar. He does not get the easiest match to come back in though. He will face Minnesota Back-up Scott Schiller in the first round. Simaz is a clear favorite to win the match, but keep an eye on this one, Schiller is very talented and it is the first match back for Simaz. After that he should not have much of a problem reaching the semi’s. We will be looking forward to the quarter match between Meeks of Oregon State and McIntosh of Penn State. Two very talented younger wrestlers should have a great battle. Meeks has seen a lot of tough competition so far this year, McIntosh not so much. We feel Meeks will get a win here and move on to face Simaz. In what could be a close match we have Simaz going to the finals.

Bottom

Yohn of Minnesota is your second seed and should be able to make his way into the semi-finals. Once there he should face Powless from Indiana. Powless will have to get by Missouri’s Haynes in the quarters. Haynes has had his struggles this year and Powless has been solid, we are going with Powless. This should be a close match in the semi-finals between these two Big 10 rivals. We are picking Yohn is a very close low scoring match to move on and face Simaz.

Final

Well the first time these two met it was not pretty. Simaz dominated Yohn. We are not sure if that changes much here. Look for Simaz to win.

TOM Prediction

1. Simaz, Cornell
2. Yohn, Minnesota
3. Powless, Indiana
4. Meeks, Oregon State

HWT

Top

Your top seed is Minnesota’s Nelson. He should be in the driver’s seat until the semi’s. The second quarter should be interesting. We will see Hanke of Oregon State who is on an Olympic redshirt and Johnson of Ohio. Johnson has been wrestling very well so far this year. Hanke is fresh off a big win over Gelogaev of Oklahoma State. Should be a close one, but we have Hanke moving on to face Nelson. On paper you would favor Hanke who just beat Gelogaev, Gelogaev dominated Nelson. With that said, we are going with Hanke and the upset.

Bottom

Jack of Oregon State is your number two seed and should not have much of a problem reaching the semi-final. Wade of Penn State is the third seed and should be good to the quarters. There he will face Mellon from Missouri. Look for Mellon to pull the upset here and move on to face Jack. Jack controls the match and moves on to face his teammate.

Finals

The bummer here is that we think Oregon will do what they did last time and injury default Hanke.

TOM Pick

1. Jack, Oregon State
2. Hanke, Oregon State
3. Nelson, Minnesota
4. Johnson, Ohio