National Collegiate Duals Preview - Blue Pool “A”
Journeymen Wrestling has brought together quite a field for this year’s version of the National Collegiate Duals - which will take place Dec 20-21 in the panhandle of Florida. We are going to take a quick look at the field in 4 different stories over the course of this week. The teams are broken down into two pools and then within each pool 3 teams in a group each. The pools will not have a crossover - which means no Penn State vs. Iowa matchup, but that isn’t surprising given that the two teams will have their dual in January. This is an unbelievable opportunity to watch some of the best college wrestlers in the nation compete over 2 days.
The Schedule:
How to Watch:
There are two ways to watch the event. First, if you are close - you can get tickets at Journeymen. Monday is going to be a banger with 12 duals featuring many of the best teams in the country. Day 2 (Tuesday) will be a crossover within the pools - so if Penn State wins the Blue Pool “A” and Arizona State wins the Blue Pool “B” then that will be the final on Tuesday evening. Can’t make it to northwest Florida? You can also watch it live on Rokfin. Simply click the picture above.
What to Watch Day 1 - Blue Pool “A”:
Can you get 3 better duals than Northern Iowa vs. #11 Cornell, Northern Iowa vs. #2 Penn State, and #2 Penn State vs. #11 Cornell? Those rankings are Intermat’s dual team rankings. We begin with UNI vs. Cornell at 9 am and proceed with the other duals on this side.
Here are 5 matches within this pool I am interested in catching:
#1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. #5 Vito Arajau (Cornell)
I don’t know if these two have crossed paths in folkstyle, but their freestyle bouts from a couple of years ago were awesome. and I’d expect a same level of on your feet magic in this matchup.
#1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. #23 Beau Bartlett (Penn State)
Diakomihalis in the man … Bartlett had a stellar prep career and had made the transition to Penn State fairly seamlessly. Old vs. New. Interested to see how close Bartlett is to the top dog at 149.
#1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) vs. #4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
Re-match of last year’s NCAA semifinals that Brooks won 6-4. Expect fireworks.
#10 Julian Ramirez (Cornell) vs. #24 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa)
Ramirez is a Florida kid that made his way up north a few years ago - first to Blair and now onto Cornell. He is ranked #10 and has his sights set on making the podium. Yant is one of the UNI team captains this season and is a 2021 NCAA Qualifier. Lots of hype on Ramirez - Yant will give him all he can handle.
#1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #11 Chris Foca (Cornell)
Starocci is the defending NCAA Champ and is unbelievable. If there is one person that you should watch compete - in-person it is Starocci. Foca is on the verge of breaking into the top 10 - a win over the defending champ would be huge for his resume.
#DirtySouth Connections
These are the starting lineups based on wrestling thus far tis season … but that doesn’t mean that the coaches won’t look to get some others on their rosters involved in these duals. Below are some wrestlers with Southeast connections that you could see.
Northern Iowa has quite a pipeline to the Southeast - it would be great to see any of these young men compete:
Kyle Gollhofer (GA) at 125
Julian Farber (GA) at 133
Ethan Basile (FL) at 141
RJ Weston (GA) at 157
Penn State has no wrestlers with a SE connection on their roster.
Cornell has two former Florida hammers on their roster:
Jake Brindley (FL) at 157
Julian Ramirez (FL) at 165