3 Things to Know from Day 1 of the NCAA D1 Tournament

Like many of you … I am watching from afar, but these three things stood out to me after day 1.

#1 - Team Race

  • Sure Penn State Leads with 26 points with Iowa 2nd (21.5) and Missouri 3rd (17.5), but it was Arizona State tied for 10th with 13 points that entered with just 5 wrestlers and they got all 13 points from just 4 wrestlers - Brandon Courtney (125), Michael McGee (133), Kyle Parco (149), and Cohlton Schultz (285) - Cael Valencia was their 5th wrestler, but he was 0-2 on the day.

  • The Sun Devils won’t be contending for a team title, but they have a solid shot to have 4 of their 5 on the podium when all is said and done. Not many teams will have that type of success this weekend.

  • In case you are wondering …

    • Penn State has 8 of their 9 still alive with 7 in the quarters

    • Iowa has all 10 still alive with 5 in the quarters … can the Hawkeyes stay in the hunt with 5 marching to the podium on the backside?

    • Missouri has 9 of their 10 still alive and 6 in the quarters

    • Minnesota and NC State are 4th qith 16.5 points and Cornell and Nebraska are 6th with 15.5 points.

#2 - Dogs

  • Every tournament has their dogs … those underdogs that pull an upset or two and begin to really shake up the brackets. These 4 find themselves in tomorrow’s quarters with a chance to go from a 20-something seed to an All American with one more win.

    • Killian Cardinale of West Virginia (#28 at 125) vs. Matt Ramos (#4) of Purdue

    • Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech (#27 at 125) vs. Liam Cronin (#3) of Nebraska

    • Graham Rooks of Indiana (#20 at 149) vs. Shayne Van Ness (#12) of Penn State

    • Caleb Fish of Michigan State (#29 at 165) vs. Quincy Monday (#5) of Princeton

#3 - SE Homegrown Hammers

  • We support all of the wrestlers from the SE as they make their way to the a spot on the podium … that includes wrestlers that have joined us in the #dirtysouth after spending their prep careers somewhere else. They include wrestlers like Kai Orine of NC State, Rocky Jordan of UTC, Austin O’Connor of UNC and many others. But we really focus on those wrestlers we have watched grow up here in the SE - looking to support to continued growth of wrestling at the high school and youth levels in the SE? Cheer on these young men as they look to make the podium tomorrow.

  • We have two that sit in the quarterfinals (one more win and they will be All Americans)

    • Sam Latona - 133 for Virginia Tech who wrestled for Thompson High School in Alabama. Latona, the #6 seed, takes on Cornell’s Vito Arujau in the quarters.

    • Jaxon Smith - 197 for Maryland who wrestled for Woodland (Cartersville) High School in Georgia. Smith, the #11 seed, will wrestle Missouri’s Rocky Elam the #3 seed in tomorrow’s quarters. Check out Jaxon’s ankle pick of Trumble on his way to a fall in their 2nd round matchup.

Video Credit: ESPN

  • We also have several others making their way back through the backside of the bracket. They include:

    • Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern who wrestled at Flagler Palm Coast High School (FL) - wrestles McKee (Minnesota) at 125

    • Brayden Palmer of University of Tennessee Chattanooga who wrestled at Beech High School (TN) - wrestles Maida (American) at 133

    • Frankie Tal Shahar of Northwestern who wrestled for American Heritage Delray Beach (FL) - wrestles Miller (Maryland) at 141

    • Malyke Hines of Lehigh who wrestled for Osceola High School (FL) - wrestles Jack (NC State) at 141

    • Tom Crook of Virginia Tech who wrestled for Tampa Jesuit (FL) - wrestles D’Emilio (Ohio State) at 141

    • Julian Ramirez of Cornell who wrestled (for a time) at Tampa Jesuit (FL) - wrestles Braunagel (Illinois) at 165

    • Gavin Kane of University of North Carola who wrestled for Cambridge (GA) - wrestles Assad (Iowa) at 184

    • David Key of Navy who wrestled for Brookwood (GA) - wrestles Bonino (Drexel) at 184

    • Owen Trephan of NC State who wrestled (for a time) for Summerville (SC) - wrestles Wolfgram (West Virginia) at 285

    • Ben Goldin of Pennsylvania who wrestled for Lake Highland Prep (FL) - wrestles McKiernan (SIUE) at 285

  • We also have a SE showdown with …

    • Johnny Lovett of Central Michigan who wrestled for Miami Southridge (FL) vs. Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech who wrestled for Woodland Cartersville (GA) at 149

Jason FulmoreComment