RE: Wrestling Team
125 - Nic Bedelyon is a legitimate contender for a national championship. He's a top 5 wrestler and has the potential to be #1 in March if he gets hot at the right time. Although he lost to Waters of Missouri for the second time this year, he out-wrestled him in Virginia and should have won.
133 - Stevie Mitcheff is a true 125 but is doing a good job wrestling up a weight class. Although he has struggled at times this year, he has been improving and won against both Old Dominion and Missouri to help KSU win the tournament.
141 - Moving up from 133 has not been a problem for Tyler Small. He is wrestling very well and has become a legitimate AA candidate. He is only a sophomore and beat the MAC's #2 from UB in Virginia. I'm sure they will wrestle each other in the MAC final.
149 - Ian Miller is a stud. As a true freshman, he has handled nationally ranked opponents throughout the year and is our 3rd legitimate AA candidate. With his aggressive style, he has the potential to be a national champion. Perhaps this year is too soon, but with the way he wrestles, you never know. Plus, 149 is one of the weakest weight classes in the country this year.
157 - Shuster has shown that he has the potential to be ranked in the top 20 but he has struggled to be consistent. He can score but has faded in several matches this year when he was leading. This is probably the deepest weight class in the MAC.
165 - Ross Tice is back after being out for 6 weeks. He wrestled well in Virginia but his conditioning probably cost him 2 close matches. As he gets his lungs back, he will contend for a MAC title. In Virginia he lost 1-0 to the UB wrestler who is ranked #1 in the MAC. Although an AA finish is probably not realistic, Ross can win some matches at the NCAAs and deliver valuable points.
174 - Brandon Johnson has probably wrestled the toughest schedule of any wrestler in the country. Although he has taken his lumps, he's done a good job and will be better prepared for the MAC tournament as a result. Relative to the MAC, his test will be this week-end against a very good OU wrestler. His win against Missouri was fantastic and could be a turning point for him this season.
184 - Casey Newburg, after some time off due to an injury, is wrestling very well. Other than 157, his weight class is one of the MAC's toughest with the CMU representative being #5 in the country. Newburg is a top 20 wrestler IMHO.
197 - Keith Witt has done a very good job filling in for Kilgore. He's ranked #1 in the MAC and has some good wins this year. He has the potential to win some matches at the NCAAs but has to perform at the MAC tournament.
285 - Brendan Barlow's year has been up and down. He has had some losses that were unexpected but at the same time, he's beaten some very good ranked wrestlers. In addition to Bedelyon, he was 1 win away from AA status last year. He is our 4th AA candidate and a personal favorite. Although somewhat under-sized, he's athletic and can wrestle with anyone in the country if he pushes the action all 7 minutes. Although he's ranked 3rd in the MAC, I think he's #1.
This is KSU's year in the MAC with CMU and UB being our biggest threats. CMU has a fantastic program but they are down this year. UB is improving and presents some match-up issues in head-to-head competition. We have beat CMU before in a dual and I anticipate a win on January 29. Ditto for February 3 against UB. CMU has dominated the MAC tournament for years and our second place finish last year was the closest result in some time. Because CMU red-shirted 2 of their studs this year, we should win the tournament. As important as the MAC competition is, the NCAA tournament is what it is all about. The goal is to get as many wrestlers to St. Louis as possible. Even without Kilgore, this squad can match last year's 17th place finish because of its depth and multiple AA candidates. For a program that was losing to DII schools 8-10 years ago, Coach Andrassy has done a great job. With several freshman performing well during their red-shirt years, the future looks bright for KSU's top program.
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