If I Had a Crystal Ball and Could Forecast The Future, These Are Some Of The Issues I Want Answers For “Now
By Matt Krumrie “TWM Freelance Writer
The 2006-07 college wrestling regular season is all but over. There are few dual meets this week, but most teams are now focusing on getting healthy and preparing for the conference championships.
The NJCAA national championships take place in Rochester, Minnesota this weekend at the Rochester Regional Sports Center.
The first Division I conference tournament also take place this week when the Pac-10 Tournament takes place at Cal-State Bakersfield Feb. 24-25. It’s safe to say this has been a down year for Pac-10 teams on a national level, but this year’s tournament is still going to be a good one because there is no clear-cut favorite. And you can bet the individuals that do qualify for the national tournament will be out to prove west coast teams and wrestlers can compete with anyone in the country (see 2006 nationals, Ben Cherrington, Boise State 157-pound national champion and Shane Webster, Oregon 184-pound national champion, for more information).
Now, let’s get down to business.
Throw the Dual Meet Record and Results Out The Window
Like most of you, I can’t wait for the conference and national tournaments. It’s a whole new season, and in many cases, shows just how different the regular season and national tournament formats really are. For example, Northwestern defeated Michigan 20-14 in the final Big Ten dual for both teams last weekend. With the win the Wildcats finished the regular season 13-8 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten Conference. Michigan finished 2-10 overall and 1-7 in dual meets – hardly impressive conference showings for both teams.
The casual fan might look at that and not expect much from either team come nationals, but wrestling fans know both teams are realistic top 10 contenders, and in my opinion, Northwestern could finish in the top 5. The Wildcats feature national title contenders in Ryan Lang (141) and Jake Herbert (184) and potential All-Americans such as Brandon Precin (125), Nick Hayes (174), Mike Tamilow (197) and Dustin Fox (285) “with Fox also a potential national finalist.
On paper, the casual fan might look at Michigan’s record and cringe (of course, the Wolverines coaching staff probably cringes as well at that two-win dual season). While the Wolverines are a team that doesn’t have a lot of depth to win dual meets, with Josh Churella (149), Eric Tannenbaum (165), Steve Luke (174), Tyrel Todd (184), and Nick Roy (197) they still should do some damage at nationals. Churella and Tannenbaum are certainly capable of making it to the finals, while Luke and Todd could be All-Americans, and Roy could score some valuable team points.
You wonder why casual fans are confused about how this sport works?
Showtime For New Coaches, Programs on the Rise
This has been a unique season because so many new coaches have taken over at Division I schools. The ups and downs of the new coaches have been well-documented. Cael Sanderson has Iowa State on a roll, Tom Brands and Dan Gable lead an unpredictable Iowa team, Tom Shifflet and Hofstra started out strong but have lost some recent dual meets, Jim Zalesky’s Oregon State team has been in and out of the national rankings, and Tom Ryan’s Ohio State Buckeyes have some individuals who wrestling fans shouldn’t be surprised if they become high All-Americans – such as Lance Palmer (149), Mike Pucillo (184) and J.D. Bergman (197). In addition Chris Bono leads a Tennessee-Chattanooga team with a lot of talent as well. How these teams will do in the future years remains to be seen, but all eyes will be watching these familiar faces in new places this tournament season.
The other element we have heading into tournament season is the development of teams who recently made coaching changes, became fully-funded, or simply are hoping to elevate its program to the next level. These are teams like Maryland, who finished 17-5 and won the ACC Dual Meet Title for the first time since 1974, and also tied the 1990 team for most dual meet wins. The downside? The Terapins haven’t had an All-American since 1997 (James Guzzio, 5th at 134). The Terapins are one of those programs who recently became fully-funded and brought in a coach “Pat Santoro “who many believe will lead the team to great things. This is the time of year the Terapins have been waiting for. And while the team is young and the future looks bright, getting at least one All-American this year (Hudson Taylor?) would be a huge boost for the future of the program.
There are numerous other programs in similar situations that are hoping to somehow get into the top 20 in the nation. Among them are teams like Columbia, American (who finished 17th last year), Tennessee-Chattanooga, UC-Davis, Old Dominion, North Carolina State, and Bloomsburg. While programs like Oklahoma, Penn State and Edinboro focus on finishing in the top 10, programs like these are looking for continual improvement and a top-20 finish to prove they are making progress.
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