NCAA Division 1 SE Primer - 157 lbs.
157 lbs.
The dirtysouth has plenty of hammers to watch in Detroit. We have included qualifiers for southern schools (within the coverage of SEWrestle - FL, GA, AL, SC, TN, NC) even if they are not “homegrown” here in the SE. The images below were pulled from each school’s social media account - if you wish for the tweet, pic, etc. to be removed please contact sewrestle. The bios are pulled from each of the schools pages … it is designed to give the reader some background on who to watch at 157.
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Elijah Cleary - Pittsburgh (Winter Park, FL - Lake Highland Prep)
Transferred to Pitt for the 2021-22 season from Ohio State as a super senior with one year of eligibility remaining. The experienced Cleary is expected to start at 157 pounds for the Panthers this season, his sixth campaign of college wrestling.
PRIOR TO PITT: Wrestled for five seasons at Ohio State... Was the Buckeyes' full-time starter at 157 pounds each of the last two years... Won 55 bouts during his career in Columbus... Competed at the Big Ten Championships in 2020 and '21... Earned six wins in duals for Ohio State... Received the team's 2019 Kosta Karageorge Battling Buckeye Award... Two-time OSU Scholar Athlete.
HIGH SCHOOL: Cleary was a two-time Florida state champion, helping Lake Highland win a team title in 2015... Posted a 60-1 record as a junior and a 55-1 mark during his senior season, with 37 wins coming by pin in his final prep campaign... Ranked No. 12 by InterMat and No. 16 by FloWrestling at 160 pounds... Competed in the Journeymen All-Star Exhibition and Super 32... Won the 2015 Grappler Fall Classic.
By the Numbers
2020-21 (Ohio State): 7-8
2019-20 (Ohio State): 18-12
2018-19 (Ohio State): 11-4
2017-18 (Ohio State): 4-2
2016-17 (Unattached at Ohio State): 15-8
Career Record: 55-34
Ed Scott - North Carolina State (DuBois, PA - DuBois HS)
2021-22
• Advanced to the best-of-3 finas at the 2021 Junior World Team Trials at 70 kg. He went 5-0 in tournament action to reach the finals, outscoring his foes 52-18.
2020-21
• Pack’s starter at 149 pounds as a true freshman.
• Went 6-6 on the season, 3-4 in duals. Five of six losses to ranked foes, four in the top-11.
• Missed an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships when he placed fourth at the ACC Championship. Both losses to ranked foes.
• Scored a 12-6 win over #22 Finesilver of Duke in the final dual of the season.
• Named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Junior Pan Am Championships after taking Gold in freestyle at 70kg.
• Named a 2021 NWCA Scholar All-American.
Prep
• Named to Amateur Wrestling News’ High School All-American Second-Team as a senior.
• Named a 2020 Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award winner.
• Named a 2020 Wrestling USA Scholastic All-American.
• Two-time PIAA state champion, as a junior and senior. Went undefeated those two seasons with a 79-0 record.
• Finished his career with a 151-6 record, the most wins in DuBois area history. His 105 career pins was a record for District 9.
• Named to The Open Mat’s High School All-Senior second-team.
• Wrestled in the Collegiate Clarion Open in November. Advanced to the finals with three bonus point wins. Lone loss was 7-6 to #6 Brock Zacherl of Clarion.
• Placed third at state championships as a freshman.
• Four-time district and four-time regional champ.
• 2019 Powerade champion, Journeymen Fall Classic champion, Fargo Greco runner-up, Super 32 (4th).
• 2018 Powerade champion, NHSCA (3rd), Fargo Cadet Freestyle (5th), UWW Cadet World Team Trials (8th).
• 2017 Powerade (4th), FloNationals (4th), Fargo Cadet Greco (6th).
Rankings
• #19 overall recruit and #2 at 152 pounds by FloWrestling
• #29 overall recruit and #2 at 152 pounds by TheOpenMat
• #39 overall recruit and #3 at 152 pounds by by InterMat
Austin O’Connor - North Carolina (Lockport, IL - St. Rita of Cascia HS)
2020-21 (Redshirt-Junior): Garnered a perfect 13-0 record for the Tar Heels at 149 pounds • With the second-fastest pin (0:47) of the season, he defeated Jacson Muldrew of Gardner-Webb on Jan. 10 • Notched three major decisions on the season, matching the most of any wrestler on the roster • Earned his first ranked win of the season on Jan. 30 over No. 12 Bryce Andonian of Virginia Tech • Successfully defended his conference title in the 149-pound weight class at the ACC Championships on Feb. 28. • Named ACC Wrestler of the Year and earned All-ACC honors • As the second seed, he earned the 3-2 win over No. 1 seed Sammy Sasso of Ohio State in the 149-pound final on Mar. 20 to secure UNC's first NCAA wrestling gold medal since 1995 and the 20th all-time by an ACC wrestler • Earned All-American honors
2019-20 (Redshirt-Sophomore): Named NWCA First-Team All-American following cancelation of NCAA Championships due to COVID-19 crisis • Finished redshirt sophomore year with a 25-1 season record, good for a .961 winning percentage that ranks 5th all time in Carolina Wrestling history • Was set to be the No. 2 seed at the 2020 NCAA Championships before the event’s cancellation • Won the 2020 ACC Championships at 149 pounds • Was a perfect 13-0 in dual meets, including a 5-0 ACC dual record • Earned a runner-up finish at the 2019 Midlands Championships, losing to Iowa’s Pat Lugo • Won with bonus points in 15 of his 25 victories on the season • Led the team with seven pins • Earned ACC Wrestler of the Week honors on January 14 after pinning Princeton’s No. 15 Mike D’Angelo (1:14) • Champion at the Cleveland State Open on December 14, his first event of the year after missing the start of the season due to injury
2018-19 (Redshirt-Freshman): Earned All-America honors at 149 pounds with a third-place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh • Became just the seventh freshman All-American in program history and the highest freshman placer at UNC • His third-place finish at nationals was the best by a Tar Heel since Justin Harty took second at heavyweight in 1996 • Helped lead UNC to a 19th-place team finish, the highest for the program in 24 years • Finished his first year in the lineup with a 34-6 overall mark that included a sparkling 17-2 record in duals • Went 4-1 in ACC duals and earned All-ACC honors with a runner-up finish at the ACC Championships • Had 16 bonus-point wins on the year - eight major decisions, one tech fall and a team-high seven pins • Wrestled 24 matches against NCAA qualifiers and posted an 18-6 record, including wins over No. 3 seed Mitch Finesilver of Duke, No. 4 Brock Mauller of Missouri, No. 9 Justin Oliver of NC State and No. 11 Josh Heil of Campbell • Beat Heil, Finesilver and Mauller at nationals before again besting Finesilver 7-5 in the third-place match • All six of his losses on the year came to All-Americans - two to Micah Jordan of Ohio State (runner-up), three to Finesilver (fourth place) and one to Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton (fifth place) • His 34 wins were the most by a Tar Heels since Evan Henderson went 37-8 at 141 pounds in 2013-14 • Took third at both the Hokie Open and the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational prior to the semester break.
2017-18 (Freshman): Went 15-3 at 149 pounds • Won the App State Open with five straight wins • Won via fall three times, including two under one minute • Won the UWW Junior Freestyle national championship at the 2018 U.S. Open • Won gold at 70 kg at the 2018 Junior Pan American Championships in Brazil.
Dazjon Casto - Citadel (Erie, PA - Erie Cathedral Prep HS)
JUNIOR: Wrestled in 12 matches…finished with an overall record of 7-5, and a 3-2 mark in dual matches…missed time with injury…opened the season with a first-period fall against St. Thomas…followed it up with a decision victory against Southeastern…only wrestled in three conference matches…closed regular season with 5-2 decision over VMI…upset No. 1 seed Will Formato in the semifinals of the SoCon Championships…dropped tough 3-2 decision in championship match.
SOPHOMORE: Completed sophomore season 25-12 overall…finished the year 4-3 in the SoCon…racked up three victories and finished in third place at the SoCon Championships…earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships.
FRESHMAN: Finished the year 27-19 overall…completed the year 3-3 in the SoCon…captured three victories and finished in third place at the SoCon Championships…named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.
HIGH SCHOOL: Wrestled senior year at Fort Dorchester High School…went 39-0 and captured the South Carolina state championship as a senior…named a NHSCA Senior All-American…wrestled first three years at Erie Cathedral Prep…captured the District championship and was the regional runner-up as a sophomore and junior…went combined 68-14 over those two years…state qualifier as a sophomore…selected as the team freshman of the year after posting a 12-0 record…astate qualifier in track…earned all-state honors in football after leading the team in interceptions…honor roll student.
Johnny Lovett - Central Michigan (Miami, FL - Miami Southridge HS)
2020-21: Turned in a breakout year, finishing 10-5, qualifying for the NCAA Championships and placing third in the Mid-American Conference Championships … posted a 10-2 major-decision victory over Peter Pappas of Edinboro to win the third-place match at the MAC Championships … seeded 26th in the NCAA Championships, Lovett stunned 13th-seeded Jarrett Jacques of Missouri, 3-2, in their opening-round bout; the win avenged two earlier losses to Jacques … has a 30-14 career record.
2019-20: True freshman finished 20-9 wrestling at 157 pounds in open tournaments and unattached … had two major-decision victories plus one pin and one technical fall … went 4-0 with a pin to place first in the freshman/sophomore division at the Michigan State Open (11/2) … placed fourth at the Cleveland State Open (12/14) … placed fifth at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open (11/10).